Neumann, Carl Friedrich

Neumann, Carl Friedrich a distinguished German Orientalist, ethnographer, and historian, was born, of Jewish parents, December 22, 1798, at Reichmannsdorf, near Bamberg. Without any means, but by hard study and diligence, he was enabled in the year 1817 to go to Heidelberg to attend the lectures there. In 1818 he joined the Christian Church, taking instead of his former name, Bamberger, that of Neumann, under which he became known to the literary world. Upon the completion of his studies at Heidelberg and Munich, he was appointed in 1821 as professor at the Gymnasium of Speier, but on account of his liberal views he had to give up his position in 1825. He next went to Venice, where he studied the Armenian language with the Mechitarists in the monastery of St. Lazarus; he then continued his Oriental studies at Paris and London; and in 1830 went to India and China, with a view to becoming thoroughly acquainted with the Chinese language and literature. He there collected a library of about 12,000 volumes, chiefly on Chinese literature; and after his return he was appointed, in 1833, professor at Munich, where he lectured on the Chinese and Armenian languages and literature, on ethnography, universal and German history, until the year 1852, when he was discharged on account of his liberal religious and political views. He settled at Berlin in 1863, and there he remained until his death, which occurred March 17, 1870. He was a close student of political and philosophical phases in history, and was greatly devoted to republican institutions. The American government he admired, and warmly met every American who had occasion to see him. He freely mingled in foreign society at Berlin, and was much sought after by all literature-loving strangers in the German capital. He wrote, Memoirs sur la vie et les ourrages de David, philosophe Armenien (Paris, 1829): — Catechism of the Shamans (from the Chinese, 1831): — Pilgerfahrten buddhistischer Priester aus China nach Indien (Leipsic, 1833): — Lehrsaal des Mittelreichs (Munich, 1836): — Versuch einer Geschnichte der armenischen Litetatur (Leipsic, 1836): — Translations from the Chinese and Armenian, with Notes and Illustrations (London, 1839): — Geschichte des englischen Reiches in Asien (Leipsic, 1857, 2 volumes): — Geschichte der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika (Berlin, 1863-1866, 3 volumes), besides a number of essays, which were published in the Zeitschrift of the German Oriental Society (1:91-128, 217-237; 4:33-43, 225-243; 7:141-155; 18:294). A translation of his Hoei Schein, or The Discovery of America by Buddhist Monks in the 5th Century, was published at London in 1874. See Kalkar, Israel u. die Kirche (Hamburg, 1869), page 128; Literarischer Handweiser, 1870, page 487 sq.; Kurz, Gesch. d. deutschen Literatur, 4:867, 925; For. Quar. Rev. 21:126, 255. (J.H.W.)