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Paulinus of St. Bartholomew

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Paulinus of St. Bartholomew

Paulinus of St. Bartholomew (b. at Hof am Leithaberge in Lower Austria, 25 April 1748; d. in Rome, 7 January 1806) was an Austrian Carmelite missionary and Orientalist of Croatian origin. He is known by several names as Paulinus S. Bartholomaeo, Paolino da San Bartolomeo, Paulinus Paathiri, Paulin de St Barthelemi, Paulinus A S. Bartholomaeo, Johann Philipp Wesdin, or Johann Philipp Werdin.

He is credited with being the author of the first Sanskrit grammar to be published in Europe, and for being one of the first Orientalists to remark upon the close relationship between Indian and European languages, followed by others such as William Jones and Gaston-Laurent Coeurdoux.

Life

He was born in a peasant family in Lower Austria, and took the religious habit at the age of twenty. He studied theology and philosophy at Prague. Having entered into the seminary of the missions of his order at Rome, he did Oriental studies at the College of St Pancratius.

He was sent in 1774 as missionary to Malabar, India. After spending fourteen years in India, he was appointed vicar-general of his order and apostolic visitor. He was very well versed in languages: he spoke German, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, English, Malayalam, Sanskrit, and some other languages of India. He became known in Kerala as Paulinus Paathiri. He was one of the first to detect the similarity between Sanskrit and Indo-European languages, though the very first was likely Thomas Stephens.

Recalled in 1789 to Rome to give an account of the state of the mission in Indostan, he was charged with editing books – to correct the Catechisms and elementary books printed at Rome – for the use of missionaries. On account of political troubles he stayed from 1798 to 1800 at Vienna.

In Rome, he came into contact with Stefano Borgia, Secretary of Propaganda Fide, antiquarian scholar and patron, who had set up in Velletri, his native city, the very well-endowed Museo Borgiano. Borgia appointed him his private secretary and financed the publication of many volumes of indology, including the first European grammar of the Sanskrit language (Sidharubam seu Grammatica Samscrdamica), published in Rome in 1790. Paulinus also wrote, in Italian, a long essay on India (Viaggio alle Indie Orientali) which was translated into the principal European languages.

In 1800, Pope Pius VII appointed him as counsellor of the Congregation of the Index and as inspector of studies at the Pontifical Urban University. He wrote an account of his travels, translated into French, under the title Voyage aux Index Orientales, published at Paris in 1808.

While in Europe, he also made known the works of Johann Ernst Hanxleden (Arnos Paathiri). He had carried some of Hanxleden's works to Europe. He also wrote about Hanxleden and quotes him extensively in his memoirs.

When Borgia died suddenly at Lyons while accompanying Pius VII to Napoleon, Paulinus wrote his biography.

Works

Paulinus wrote many learned books on the East, which were highly valued in their day, among them the first printed Sanskrit grammar. They include:

  • Systema brahmanicum liturgicum, mythologicum, civile, ex monumentis indicis musei Borgiani Velitris dissertationibus historico-criticis illustratu (Rome, 1791), translated into German (Gotha, 1797)
  • Examen historico-criticum codicum indicorum (Rome, 1792)
  • Musei Borgiani Velitris codices manuscripti avences, Peguani, Siamici, Malabarici, Indostani (Rome, 1793)
  • Viaggio alle Indie orientali (Rome, 1796), translated into German by Forster (Berlin, 1798)
  • Sidharubam, seu Grammatica sanscridamica, cui accedit dissert. hiss. crit. in linguam sanscridamicam vulgo Samscret dictam (Rome, 1799), another edition of which appeared under the title "Vyacaranam" (Rome, 1804)
  • India orientalis christiana (Rome, 1794), on the history of missions in India

Other works bear on linguistics and church history:

  • Viaggio alle Indie Orientali umiliato alla Santita di N. S. Papa Pio Sesto pontefice massimo (Rome, 1796)
  • Voyage aux Indes Orientales (Paris, 1808)
  • Sectio prima de caelo ex tribus ineditis codicibus indicis manuscriptis (Rome, 1798)
  • Atlas pour servir au voyage aux Indes orientales (Paris, 1808)
  • De basilica S. Pancratii M. Christi disquisitio (Rome, 1803)
  • Examen historico criticum codicum indicorum (Rome, 1792)
  • India orientalis christiana continens fundationes ecclesiarum, seriem episcoporum (Rome, 1794)
  • Jornandis vindiciae de Var Hunnorum auctore (Rome, 1800)
  • Monumenti indici del Museo Naniano (Padova, 1799)
  • Mumiographia Musei Obiciani exarata (Patavii, 1799)
  • Musei Borgiani Velitris codices manuscripti Avenses Peguani Siamici Malabarici Indostani animadversionibus historico-criticis castigati et illustrati accedunt monumenta inedita, et cosmogonia Indico-Tibetana (Rome, 1793)
  • Sidharubam seu Grammatica Samscrdamica (Rome, 1790)
  • Systema Brahmanicum liturgicum mythologicum civile ex monumentis Indicis musei Borgiani Velitris dissertationibus historico-criticis illustravit (Rome, 1791)
  • Vitae synopsis Stephani Borgiae S.R.E. cardinalis amplissimi (Rome, 1805)
  • Vyacarana seu Locupletissima Samscrdamicae linguae institutio in usum Fidei praeconum in India Orientali, et virorum litteratorum in Europa (Rome, 1804)
  • Notitia topographica, civilis, politica, religiosa missionis Malabaricae ad finem saeculi 18. (Rome, 1937)
  • De manuscriptis codicibus indicis R. P. Joan Ernesti Hanxleden epistola ad. R. P. Alexium Mariam A. S. Joseph Carmelitam excalceatum (Vienna, 1799)

Notes

  1. "sanskrt – Hrvatska enciklopedija". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  2. "Vesdin, Filip Ivan – Hrvatska enciklopedija". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  3. "Hrvatski "indolog" Ivan Filip Vesdin (1748–1806) i "Portugalske Indije"". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  4. Alles, Gregory D. (March 2010). Religious Studies: A Global View. ISBN 9781134152711. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  5. "Filip Vezdin – Croatian History". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  6. "Filip Vezdin bio je gradišćanski Hrvat". Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  7. "Vatroslav Jagić (1865.) o Filipu Vezdinu ( 1748.-1806.) – Hrvatske novine". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. "indoeuropski jezici – Proleksis enciklopedija". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. "Vezdin – značenje – Hrvatski leksikon". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  10. "H. Kekez: Velikani hrvatske prošlosti by Svijet Knjige – issuu". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  11. "Johann Philipp Vezdin – Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo". Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  12. Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo, Paolino da San Bartolomeo; known as Paulinus Paathiri; secular name Johann Philipp Wesdin.
  13. "PAULINUS A SANCTO BARTHOLOMAEO, [Johannes Philippus Werdin or Wesdin].India Orientalis Christiana continens fundationes ecclesiarum, seriem episcoporum, missiones, schismata, persecutiones, reges, viros illustres". Horden House. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2012. Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo (1748–1806).....He was the author of many learned studies on the east, and published the first Sanskrit grammar
  14. "Sidharubam seu grammatica Samscrdamica cui accedit dissertatio historico-critica in languam samscrdamicam vulgo samscret dictam by Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo". National Book Auctions.com. Retrieved 12 February 2012. First Edition – This is a scarce first edition of the first Sanskrit grammar to be published in Europe.
  15. "Results from NBA's January Auction". finebooksmagazine.com. Retrieved 12 February 2012. Philip Werdin (or Wesdin) was an Austrian Carmelite missionary in Malabar from 1776 to 1789. An outstanding Orientalist, he was one of the first to remark upon the close relationship between Indian and European languages
  16. "British Library – Mss Eur K153 – PAULINUS, a Sancto Bartholomaeo". bl.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2012. A copy of 'Systema Brahmanicam' (Rome 1791) by Fr Paolino (Paulinus, a Sancto Bartholomaeo ), containing critical comments possibly by Sir William Jones (1746-94), oriental scholar, Judge of Supreme Court, Calcutta 1783-94
  17. ^ Gorton, John (1833). A General Biographical Dictionary. Whittaker and Co. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  18. Vitae synopsis Stephani Borgiae S.R.E. cardinalis amplissimi S. Congr. De Propaganda fide praefecti curante p. Paulino a S. Bartholomaeo carmelita discalceato. Romae, apud Antonium Fulgonium, 1805
  19. Carlo Gastone della Torre di Rezzonico, Lettera su' monumenti indici del Museo Borgiano illustrati dal padre Paolino di San Bartolomeo in Opere del cavaliere Carlo Castone conte Della Torre di Rezzonico patrizio comasco raccolte e pubblicate dal professore Francesco Mocchetti, Como, presso lo stampatore provinciale Carlantonio Ostinelli, 1820, Tomo VIII, p. 7-54

References

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
    • Giuseppe Barone, Vita, precursori ed opere del P. Paolino da S. Bartolommeo (Filippo Werdin) : contributo alla storia degli studi orientali in Europa (Napoli: A. Morano, 1888);
    • Max Heimbucher [de], Die Orden und Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche, II (2nd ed., Paderborn: Schoningh, 1907), 568-69

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