Conrady, August

Sinologist, ethnographer

born: 28.04.1864 in Wiesbaden

died: 04.06.1925 in Leipzig

Coming from a widely ramified family of scholars, Conrady was familiar with the atmosphere of science from an early age. He received private tuition from his father Ludwig Conrady, a pastor and author of theological and historical works, and from his uncle Wilhelm Conrady, a lawyer and Limes researcher who lived at Miltenberg Castle on the River Main, where Conrady enjoyed spending time. This domicile was a family inheritance through his relative Friedrich Habel, the archivist and antiquarian. The orientalist Peter von Bohlen, one of the first Sanskritists, was Conrady's maternal grandfather.

Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Munich and Jena were the stages of his studies, which began with classical philology before he turned increasingly to comparative linguistics in line with his inclinations and completed his doctorate in Würzburg on a Nepalese palm leaf manuscript. He habilitated in Leipzig in 1891 with a study on a Nepalese dance play, after which he studied the Thai languages and finally Chinese, to which he was to devote his entire life. He distinguished himself as an innovator in various areas of sinological research, particularly in the field of palaeography.

Embarking on a university career meant accepting disastrous conditions: in 1896, he was entrusted with the Leipzig Chair of East Asian Languages in the form of a very modestly remunerated associate professorship.

Like few scholars, Conrady had extensive linguistic knowledge in his field of research. As a rigorous philologist, he introduced new methods to sinology and laid the foundations for Indochinese linguistics. A stay in Beijing broadened his scientific spectrum with innovative folkloristic treatises, and he had a personal exchange with Sven Hedin, which resulted in a relevant publication on Chinese documents.

In 1920, Conrady was appointed full professor, an honor that lasted only a short time. His estate went up in flames during the Second World War.