Theodor Benfey (January 28, 1809 - June 26, 1881), German philologist was the son of a Jewish trader at Nörten, near Göttingen. January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... June 26 is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 188 days remaining. ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ... Jews (Hebrew: יהודים, Yehudim) are followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and converts who joined their religion. ... Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

Although originally destined for the medical profession, his taste for philology was awakened by a careful instruction in Hebrew which he received from his father. After brilliant studies at Göttingen he spent a year at Munich, where he was greatly impressed by the lectures of Schelling and Thiersch, and afterwards settled as a teacher in Frankfurt. Hebrew (עִבְרִית ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... This article is about the the German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Thiersch (June 17, 1784 - February 25, 1860), was a German classical scholar and educationist. ... Skyline of Frankfurt at night is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ...

His pursuits were at first chiefly classical, and his attention was diverted to Sanskrit by an accidental wager that he would learn enough of the language in a few weeks to be able to review a new book upon it. This feat he accomplished, and rivalled in later years when he learned Russian in order to translate VP Vasilev's work on Buddhism. For the time, however, his labours were chiefly in classical and Semitic philology. At Göttingen, whither be had returned as Privatdozent, he wrote a little work on the names of the Hebrew months, proving that they were derived from the Persian, prepared the great article on India in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopaedia, and published from 1839 to 1842 the Lexicon of Greek Roots which gained him the Volney prize of the Institute of France. Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... Buddhism is a religion and philosophy focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who probably lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following the Buddhas death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia... 14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... Persian is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... The Volney Prize (French language: Prix Volney) is awarded by the Institute of France after proposition by the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres to a work of comparative philology. ... The Institut de France (French Institute) is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is probably the Académie française. ...

From this time his attention was principally given to Sanskrit. He published in 1848 his edition of the Sama-veda; in 1852-1854 his Manual of Sanskrit, comprising a grammar and chrestomathy; in 1858 his practical Sanskrit grammar, afterwards translated into English; and in 1859 his edition of the Pantscha Tantra, with an extensive dissertation on the fables and mythologies of primitive nations. All these works had been produced under the pressure of poverty, the government, whether from parsimony or from prejudice against a Jew, refusing to make any substantial addition to his small salary as extra-professor at the university.

At length, in 1862, the growing appreciation of foreign scholars shamed it into making him an ordinary professor, and in 1866 Benfey published the laborious work by which he is on the whole best known, his great Sanskrit-English Dictionary. In 1869 he wrote a history of German philological research, especially Oriental, during the 19th century. In 1878 his jubilee as doctor was celebrated by the publication of a volume of philological essays dedicated to him and written by the first scholars in Germany. He had designed to close his literary labours by a grammar of Vedic Sanskrit, and was actively preparing it when he was interrupted by illness, which terminated in his death at Göttingen. 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A collection of his various writings was published in 1890, prefaced by a memoir by his son. Among his pupils was James Murdoch.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.