Bible Encyclopedias
Leitner, Gottlieb William

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Leitmeritz, Benjamin Wolf

Next Entry
Lejbowicz

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

Professor of Arabic; born at Budapest in 1841; died at Bonn March 22, 1899. He was educated at Constantinople and at King's College, London. Showing an aptitude for languages, he was appointed at an early age interpreter to the British commissariat during the Crimean war, with the rank of colonel. He became lecturer in Arabic, Turkish, and Modern Greek at King's College in 1859, and two years later was appointed professor of Arabic and Mohammedan law; he organized the Oriental section of the college. Later he accepted the post of principal of the Lahore Government College, and became the first registrar of the Punjab University, which he established. Leitner founded several literary societies and free public libraries, and published journals in Hindi, Arabic, and English. In 1866 he undertook for the Punjab government an expedition to the almost unknown region lying between Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Leitner wrote a number of works on Indian subjects. He bought a college at Woking, where he provided religious conveniences for Indian students who came to England for education. He edited the "Asiatic Quarterly Review" and took an energetic part in Oriental congresses. After the congress held in Sweden there was a split in the camp of the Orientalists. Leitner conducted the campaign of his own party with the greatest vigor and perseverance, and succeeded in convening a congress at London in 1891.