Paul Time German Sanskrit scholar and Indologist Date of Birth: 18.03.1905 Country: Germany

Biography of Paul Thieme

Paul Thieme was a German scholar, Sanskritologist, and Indologist, specializing in Vedic Sanskrit. He obtained his doctorate in Indology from the University of Göttingen in 1928. From 1932 to 1935, he taught German and French languages at Allahabad University, and from 1936 to 1940, he taught at Breslau. In 1941, he started teaching at the University of Halle, but the same year, he was conscripted into the army and served as a translator. In 1945, Thieme was taken prisoner by American forces in Württemberg. After his release in 1946, he resumed his teaching career at the University of Halle.

In 1953, against the wishes of the East German authorities, Thieme moved to Frankfurt, where he was offered a position as a professor of Indo-European studies. From 1954 to 1960, Thieme was a professor at Yale University, and from 1960 to 1972, he held the position of professor of religious studies and Indology at the University of Tübingen. Thieme is considered one of the "last great Indologists." He made significant contributions to the development of Sanskrit philology, conducting research on the Vedas, Hindu epics, Upanishads, Sanskrit poetry (particularly Panini's Sanskrit grammar and its commentators). Thieme also conducted research in the field of comparative historical linguistics, studying Iranian and Indo-European languages. He was fluent in Sanskrit, earning the respect of traditional Indian scholars who invited him to give the opening speech at the first World Sanskrit Conference held in Delhi in 1971-1972.

Selected Bibliography:
- "Das Plusquamperfektum im Veda" (Dissertation, 1929)
- "Pāṇini and the Veda: Studies in the early history of linguistic science in India" (1935)
- "Bhāṣya zu vārttika 5 zu Pāṇini 1,1,9 und seine einheimischen Erklärer" (1935)
- "Der Fremdling im Ṛgveda: Eine Studie über die Bedeutung der Worte ari, arya, aryaman und ārya" (1938)
- "Untersuchungen zur Wortkunde und Auslegung des Rigveda" (1949)
- "Brāhman" (1952)
- "Mitra and Aryaman" (1957)
- "Das indische Theater" (1966)
- "Kleine Schriften" (2 volumes, 1971)
- "Opera maiora" (Volume 1, 1995)