Related to Germaine de Staël's husband, the future baron was born in the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire (present-day Estonia),in an aristocratic family (with widespread relations in other German Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire, Sweden and Northern Germany) on New Year's Day. He was educated at home during his childhood. When he reached 15, he was sent to a Gymnasium in the town of Pernau (now Pärnu). He pursued his higher education at the Dorpat University (Tartu), where some of his families had studied, majoring in comparative philology. After his graduation, he left for Germany, studying oriental languages in the Berlin University.
Prussian public records of 1898 show that the young Baron was involved in a duel in Berlin, which he apparently survived. In his second year in Berlin, as the only male heir he inherited the family estate in Testama (now Tõstamaa) and the baronage. In 1900, he gained his doctorate with his dissertation Der Karmapradīpa, II. Prapāthaka from the University of Halle-Wittenberg. The first Prapāṭhaka of the Karmapradīpa had been translated in 1889 by Friedrich Schrader, also as a dissertation in Halle. The supervisor of both dissertations was Professor Richard Pischel, at that time the world's leading expert on Prakrit, the ancient form of Sanskrit, and long-time head of the "Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft", the German Orientalist Society.
During the following years, Baron de Stael traveled widely and studied with the best oriental scholars in Germany, England and India.
He started his academic career in 1909 when he was appointed assistant professor of Sanskrit in the University of St. Petersburg and the member of the Russian Committee for the Exploration of Central and Eastern Asia. In 1912, he visited the US and lived in Harvard for some time to study Sanskrit.
He was in the Republic of China when the October Revolution broke out. The government of the new Estonian Republic, established in 1918 after the Treaty of Versailles, left him only a small part of his inherited estate. He then accepted an Estonian citizenship but remained in Beijing. With the recommendation of his friend Charles Eliot, the then principal of the University of Hong Kong, he was invited by Hu Shih to teach Sanskrit, Tibetan, and the History of Indian Religion at Peking University as lecturer from 1918 to 1921 and as professor from 1922 to 1929. He helped set up the Sino-Indian Institute in Beijing in 1927. In 1928 he was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, helping the Harvard-Yenching Institute to collect books. In 1932, he was selected an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of History and Philology (歷史語言研究所), Academia Sinica.
Besides his works on Indian and Tibetan religions, he also contributed to the field of historical Chinese phonology. His influential "The Phonetic Transcription of Sanskrit Works and Ancient Chinese Pronunciation" was translated by Hu Shih into Chinese and was published in Guoxue Jikan (Chinese: 國學季刊) in 1923.
Selected worksedit
The Kāçyapaparivarta: a Mahāyānasūtra of the Ratnakūṭa class, edited in the original Sanskrit, in Tibetan and in Chinese, Shanghai: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1926
On a Tibetan text translated into Sanskrit under Ch'ien Lung (XIII cent.) and into Chinese under Tao Kuang (XIX cent.), Bulletin of the National Library of Peiping, 1932
On two Tibetan pictures representing some of the spiritual ancestors of the Dalai Lama and of the Panchen Lama, Bulletin of the National Library of Peiping, 1932
A commentary to the Kāçcyapaparivarta, edited in Tibetan and in Chinese, Peking: published jointly by the National Library and the National Tsinghau University, 1933
On a Peking edition of the Tibetan kanjur which seems to be unknown in the West, Peking: Lazarist Press, 1934
On two recent reconstructions of a Sanskrit hymn transliterated with Chinese characters in the X century A.D, Peking: Lazarist Press, 1934
Two Lamaistic pantheons, edited with introduction and indexes by Walter Eugene Clark from materials collected by the late Baron A. von Staël-Holstein, Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series 3 and 4, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1937
^Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as Baron). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
alexander, staël, holstein, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, january, 2022, learn, when, remove, this, template. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations January 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Alexander Wilhelm Freiherr 1 Stael von Holstein Chinese 鋼和泰 1 January 1877 in Testama manor Livonia Russian Empire 16 March 1937 in Beiping China was a Baltic German aristocrat Russian and Estonian orientalist sinologist and Sanskritologist specializing in Buddhist texts Alexander von Stael Holstein Contents 1 Life 2 Selected works 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesLife edit nbsp Related to Germaine de Stael s husband the future baron was born in the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire present day Estonia in an aristocratic family with widespread relations in other German Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire Sweden and Northern Germany on New Year s Day He was educated at home during his childhood When he reached 15 he was sent to a Gymnasium in the town of Pernau now Parnu He pursued his higher education at the Dorpat University Tartu where some of his families had studied majoring in comparative philology After his graduation he left for Germany studying oriental languages in the Berlin University Prussian public records of 1898 show that the young Baron was involved in a duel in Berlin which he apparently survived In his second year in Berlin as the only male heir he inherited the family estate in Testama now Tostamaa and the baronage In 1900 he gained his doctorate with his dissertation Der Karmapradipa II Prapathaka from the University of Halle Wittenberg The first Prapaṭhaka of the Karmapradipa had been translated in 1889 by Friedrich Schrader also as a dissertation in Halle The supervisor of both dissertations was Professor Richard Pischel at that time the world s leading expert on Prakrit the ancient form of Sanskrit and long time head of the Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft the German Orientalist Society During the following years Baron de Stael traveled widely and studied with the best oriental scholars in Germany England and India He started his academic career in 1909 when he was appointed assistant professor of Sanskrit in the University of St Petersburg and the member of the Russian Committee for the Exploration of Central and Eastern Asia In 1912 he visited the US and lived in Harvard for some time to study Sanskrit He was in the Republic of China when the October Revolution broke out The government of the new Estonian Republic established in 1918 after the Treaty of Versailles left him only a small part of his inherited estate He then accepted an Estonian citizenship but remained in Beijing With the recommendation of his friend Charles Eliot the then principal of the University of Hong Kong he was invited by Hu Shih to teach Sanskrit Tibetan and the History of Indian Religion at Peking University as lecturer from 1918 to 1921 and as professor from 1922 to 1929 He helped set up the Sino Indian Institute in Beijing in 1927 In 1928 he was a visiting scholar at Harvard University helping the Harvard Yenching Institute to collect books In 1932 he was selected an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of History and Philology 歷史語言研究所 Academia Sinica Besides his works on Indian and Tibetan religions he also contributed to the field of historical Chinese phonology His influential The Phonetic Transcription of Sanskrit Works and Ancient Chinese Pronunciation was translated by Hu Shih into Chinese and was published in Guoxue Jikan Chinese 國學季刊 in 1923 Selected works editThe Kacyapaparivarta a Mahayanasutra of the Ratnakuṭa class edited in the original Sanskrit in Tibetan and in Chinese Shanghai Shangwu Yinshuguan 1926 On a Tibetan text translated into Sanskrit under Ch ien Lung XIII cent and into Chinese under Tao Kuang XIX cent Bulletin of the National Library of Peiping 1932 On two Tibetan pictures representing some of the spiritual ancestors of the Dalai Lama and of the Panchen Lama Bulletin of the National Library of Peiping 1932 A commentary to the Kaccyapaparivarta edited in Tibetan and in Chinese Peking published jointly by the National Library and the National Tsinghau University 1933 On a Peking edition of the Tibetan kanjur which seems to be unknown in the West Peking Lazarist Press 1934 On two recent reconstructions of a Sanskrit hymn transliterated with Chinese characters in the X century A D Peking Lazarist Press 1934 Two Lamaistic pantheons edited with introduction and indexes by Walter Eugene Clark from materials collected by the late Baron A von Stael Holstein Harvard Yenching Institute monograph series 3 and 4 Cambridge Mass Harvard University Press 1937See also editList of Baltic German scientistsNotes edit Regarding personal names Freiherr is a former title translated as Baron In Germany since 1919 it forms part of family names The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin References editElisseeff Serge 1938 Stael Holstein s Contribution to Asiatic Studies Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 3 1 1 8 JSTOR 2717970 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alexander von Stael Holstein amp oldid 1176414388, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
