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- Friedrich Carl Andreas
- Also known as
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Friedrich Carl Andreas
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primary name: Andreas, Friedrich Carl
- Details
- individual; academic/intellectual; German; Male
- Life dates
- 14 April 1846-3 October 1930
- Biography
- Oriental philologist, specialising in Iranian languages but also with a good knowledge of Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic and Armenian. Born in Batavia (Dutch India, now Jakarta), the son of a Dutch army doctor. Educated in Switzerland, later pursued Oriental studies at various German universities, and received his doctorate from Erlangen in 1868. Studied Pehlevi documents in Copenhagen, and travelled to Iran in 1875/76 as the epigraphist and collaborator with F. Stolze in the preparation of a photographic album of the standing remains at Persepolis (published jointly as 'Persepolis, die Achaemenidischen und Sasanidischen Denkmäler und Inschriften von Persepolis, Istakhr, Pasargadae, Shahpur', Berlin, 1882; two volumes). Andreas stayed in the country until 1882, when he also worked as the Persian postmaster-general. During his time in Iran, he excavated at the Elamite site of Liyan on the Bushehr peninsula in Iran, but he was unable to export the many inscribed bricks that he found there; correspondence concerning this group was sent by W.F. Prideaux (q.v.), dated 14 May 1876 and 18 June 1877 (ME Corres) and a selection was removed by E.A.T. Wallis Budge (q.v.) following his brief stopover there in March 1888. From 1883-1903 Andreas taught Persian and Turkish in Berlin, and became professor of Iranian studies at the University of Göttingen, at which university his papers survive. He made a major contribution to the decipherment of fragmentary manuscripts recovered by the German expedition to Turfan.
- Bibliography
- W. Lentz, "Andreas", in E. Yarshater (ed.), 'Encyclopaedia Iranica', London-New York, 1987, vol. II, p. 27; Walther Killy & Rudolf Vierhaus, eds, q.v. "Andreas, Friedrich Carl", 'Dictionary of German Biography' [DGB], volume 1: Aachen-Boguslawsky, p. 131. München: K.G. Saur, 2001.
