Walter Bruno Henning facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Bruno Henning
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| Born | August 26, 1908 Ragnit, East Prussia
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| Died | January 8, 1967 (aged 58) Berkeley, California, USA
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| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Philologist, linguist |
| Known for | Contributions to the study of Middle Iranian languages |
Walter Bruno Henning (born August 26, 1908 – died January 8, 1967) was a smart German expert. He studied old languages and writings from a region called Middle Iran. He was especially good at understanding texts found by explorers in Turpan in the early 1900s.
Contents
The Early Life of Walter Henning
Walter Henning was born in an old fortress town called Ragnit. This place was in East Prussia, which is now Neman, Russia. He grew up in a town called Köslin, located in Pomerania by the Baltic Sea.
Walter first went to the University of Göttingen to study mathematics. Soon, he decided to study Iranian languages instead. But he always kept his interest in math throughout his life.
Learning from a Master
At Göttingen, Walter was one of the last students of Friedrich Carl Andreas. Andreas was a leading expert on Middle Iranian writings. He also guided the study of the important Turfan manuscripts. Walter learned a lot from him.
In 1931, Walter earned his Ph.D. with top honors. His study was about how verbs worked in Middle Iranian languages. These verbs were found in the Turfan collection. In 1932, a group called the Prussian Academy of Sciences asked Walter to edit the Manichaean manuscripts from that collection. So, Walter moved to Berlin.
Important Discoveries
Between 1932 and 1936, Walter finished several studies that his teacher Andreas had started. These were published in three books called Mitteliranische Manichaica aus Chinesisch-Türkestan.
Walter also published his own major work. It was called Ein manichäisches Bet- und Beichtbuch. This book was the first big publication of difficult texts written in the Sogdian language. During this time, Walter also helped us understand more about the history of Manichaeism.
Moving to London
While in Berlin, Walter planned to marry Maria Polotzky. She was the sister of Hans Jakob Polotzky, one of his friends from university. But marrying someone who was Jewish was very dangerous in Nazi Germany at that time.
So, in 1936, Walter accepted a job in London. He became a lecturer in Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental Studies. He was allowed to continue his research there using photos of the Turfan manuscripts. Walter and Maria got married in London in 1937.
Life During Wartime
In 1939, just before World War II started, Walter became a Senior Lecturer. In 1940, he had not yet become a British citizen. Because of the threat of a German invasion, he was held as an "enemy alien" on the Isle of Man.
While there, he finished his book called Sogdica. He was not in good health, so he was released a year later. He spent the rest of the war teaching and studying at Christ's College, Cambridge. The School of Oriental and African Studies had moved there temporarily.
After the War
After the war, in 1946, Walter spent a year as a visiting professor. He taught Indo-Iranian languages at Columbia University in New York City. When he returned to London, he became a Reader in Central-Asian Studies. Soon after, he became a full Professor.
Changing Iranian Studies
In 1949, Walter gave a famous series of talks at Oxford. These talks were called "Politician or Witch-Doctor?". They helped to correct some wrong ideas in Iranian Studies. Walter's work helped to make this field more scientific and less about wild guesses.
In 1950, the Iranian government invited Walter to Iran. He spent several months doing field-work there. He was the first person to make copies of Pahlavi rock carvings in hard-to-reach places. His copies and their translations were published after he passed away.
Later Career and Legacy
In 1954, Walter became the first Chairman of the Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum. This group works on collecting Iranian inscriptions. In the same year, he became a Fellow of the British Academy. In early 1956, Walter studied the Khwarezmian language at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
In 1958, Walter became the Head of the Department of Languages and Cultures of Near and Middle East at SOAS. He found the administrative tasks tiring. He also disliked the damp English winters. So, in September 1961, he accepted a job as Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 1967, Walter took time off to finish his dictionary of the Khwarezmian language. He had been working on it for 30 years. In December 1966, he fell and broke his leg. This accident led to lung problems, and he passed away on January 8, 1967. He was survived by his wife and daughter.
Contributions to Knowledge
Walter Henning published over 70 articles during his career. Most of his work was about texts from the Middle Iranian period. He studied languages like Sogdian, Bactrian, Khwarezmian, Parthian, and Middle Persian.
Because he was interested in the history of Manichaeism, he also worked on the Uyghur language and Chinese. He famously identified the three-language writings on the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht as belonging to Shapur I. This was a big help to understanding Sasanian history.
Walter's studies of non-Iranian languages were also very important. These included Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Elamite, and Imperial Aramaic. Sadly, some of his works were not finished when he died. These include his Khwarezmian dictionary and his dictionary of Middle Persian words.
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