Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈmaks ˈmʏlɐ];[1][2] 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a British philologist and Orientalist of German origin. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious studies. Müller wrote both scholarly and popular works on the subject of Indology. He directed the preparation of the Sacred Books of the East, a 50-volume set of English translations.
For other people named Max Müller, see Max Müller (disambiguation).
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller
6 December 1823
Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, German Confederation
28 October 1900 (aged 76)
Oxford, England
Writer, scholar
The Sacred Books of the East, Chips from a German Workshop
Associé étranger of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres; Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art; member of the Privy Council
Georgina Adelaide Grenfell
4, including Wilhelm Grenfell Max Müller
Müller became a professor at Oxford University, first of modern languages, then of comparative philology in a position founded for him, and which he held for the rest of his life. Early in his career he held strong views on India, believing that it needed to be transformed by Christianity. Later, his view became more nuanced, championing ancient Sanskrit literature and India more generally. He became involved in several controversies during his career: he was accused of being anti-Christian; he disagreed with Darwinian evolution, favouring theistic evolution; he raised interest in Aryan culture, deeply disliking the resulting racism; and he promoted the idea of a "Turanian" family of languages.
Among his honours and distinctions, he was made an associé étranger of the French Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres; he was awarded the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art; and he was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
Early life and education[edit]
Max Müller was born into a cultured family on 6 December 1823 in Dessau, the son of Wilhelm Müller, a lyric poet whose verse Franz Schubert had set to music in his song-cycles Die schöne Müllerin, and Winterreise. His mother, Adelheid Müller (née von Basedow), was the eldest daughter of a prime minister of Anhalt-Dessau. Carl Maria von Weber was a godfather.[3]
Müller was named after his mother's elder brother, Friedrich, and after the central character, Max, in Weber's opera Der Freischütz. Later in life, he adopted Max as a part of his surname, believing that the prevalence of Müller as a name made it too common.[3] His name was recorded as "Maximilian" on some of his honours,[4] and in some other publications.[5]
Müller entered the gymnasium (grammar school) at Dessau when he was six years old. In 1835, at the age of twelve, he was sent to live in the house of Carl Gustav Carus and attend the Nicolai School at Leipzig, where he continued his studies of music and classics.[6] It was during his time in Leipzig that he frequently met Felix Mendelssohn.[3]
In need of a scholarship to attend Leipzig University, Müller successfully sat his abitur examination at Zerbst. While preparing, he found that the syllabus differed from what he had been taught, requiring him to rapidly learn mathematics, modern languages and science.[3] He entered Leipzig University in 1841 to study philology, leaving behind his early interest in music and poetry. Müller received his Ph.D. degree in Sep 1843.[7] His final dissertation was on Spinoza's Ethics.[8] He had an aptitude for classical languages, learning Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit.
Academic career[edit]
In 1850 Müller was appointed deputy Taylorian professor of modern European languages at Oxford University. In the following year, at the suggestion of Thomas Gaisford, he was made an honorary M.A. and a member of the college of Christ Church, Oxford. On succeeding to the full professorship in 1854, he received the full degree of M.A. by Decree of Convocation. In 1858 he was elected to a life fellowship at All Souls' College.[9]
He was defeated in the 1860 election for the position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit, which was a "keen disappointment" to him.[10] Müller was far better qualified for the post than the other candidate, Monier Monier-Williams, but Müller's theological views, Lutheranism, German birth, and lack of practical first-hand knowledge of India spoke against him. After the election he wrote to his mother, "all the best people voted for me, the Professors almost unanimously, but the vulgus profanum made the majority".[11]
Later in 1868, Müller became Oxford's first professor of comparative philology, a position founded on his behalf. He held this chair until his death, although he retired from its active duties in 1875.[12]
Scholarly and literary works[edit]
Sanskrit studies[edit]
In 1844, prior to commencing his academic career at Oxford, Müller studied in Berlin with Friedrich Schelling. He began to translate the Upanishads for Schelling, and continued to research Sanskrit under Franz Bopp, the first systematic scholar of the Indo-European languages (IE). Schelling led Müller to relate the history of language to the history of religion. At this time, Müller published his first book, a German translation of the Hitopadesa, a collection of Indian fables.[13]
In 1845, Müller moved to Paris to study Sanskrit under Eugène Burnouf. Burnouf encouraged him to publish the complete Rigveda, making use of the manuscripts available in England. He moved to England in 1846 to study Sanskrit texts in the collection of the East India Company. He supported himself at first with creative writing, his novel German Love being popular in its day.
Müller's connections with the East India Company and with Sanskritists based at Oxford University led to a career in Britain, where he eventually became the leading intellectual commentator on the culture of India. At the time, Britain controlled this territory as part of its Empire. This led to complex exchanges between Indian and British intellectual culture, especially through Müller's links with the Brahmo Samaj.
Müller's Sanskrit studies came at a time when scholars had started to see language development in relation to cultural development. The recent discovery of the Indo-European language group had started to lead to much speculation about the relationship between Greco-Roman cultures and those of more ancient peoples. In particular the Vedic culture of India was thought to have been the ancestor of European Classical cultures. Scholars sought to compare the genetically related European and Asian languages to reconstruct the earliest form of the root-language. The Vedic language, Sanskrit, was thought to be the oldest of the IE languages.
Müller devoted himself to the study of this language, becoming one of the major Sanskrit scholars of his day. He believed that the earliest documents of Vedic culture should be studied to provide the key to the development of pagan European religions, and of religious belief in general. To this end, Müller sought to understand the most ancient of Vedic scriptures, the Rig-Veda. Müller translated the Rigveda Samhita book written by the 14th century Sanskrit scholar Sayanacharya from Sanskrit to English. Müller was greatly impressed by Ramakrishna Paramhansa, his contemporary and proponent of Vedantic philosophy, and wrote several essays and books about him.[14]
Personal life[edit]
Müller became a naturalised British citizen in 1855, at the age of 32. He married Georgina Adelaide Grenfell on 3 August 1859 after overcoming the opposition from her family. The couple had four children – Ada, Mary, Beatrice and William Grenfell – of whom two predeceased them.[3] Georgina (died 1919) had his papers and correspondence bound; they are at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.[54]
Death and legacy[edit]
Müller's health began deteriorating in 1898 and he died at his home in Oxford on 28 October 1900. He was interred at Holywell Cemetery on 1 November 1900.[8]
After his death a memorial fund, the Max Müller Memorial Fund, was opened at Oxford for "the promotion of learning and research in all matters relating to the history and archaeology, the languages, literatures, and religions of ancient India".[55]
Harry Smith stated of his film Heaven and Earth Magic: "The first part depicts the heroine's toothache consequent to the loss of a valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land in terms of Israel, Montreal and the second part depicts the return to earth from being eaten by Max Müller on the day Edward the Seventh dedicated the Great Sewer of London."[56]
The Goethe Institutes in India are named Max Müller Bhavan in his honour, as is a street (Max Mueller Marg) in New Delhi.[57]
Müller's biographies include Van den Bosch (2002), Stone (2002) and Chaudhuri (1974).
Nirad C. Chaudhuri's Scholar Extraordinary was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for English by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. In addition, Stephen G. Alter's 2005 book William Dwight Whitney and the Science of Language contains a chapter on Müller's rivalry with the American linguist William Dwight Whitney.[58]
Müller's scholarly works, published separately as well as an 18-volume Collected Works, include:
