Christian Martin Frähn


Christian Martin Joachim Frähn, German and Russian numismatist and historian, was born at Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Frähn began his Oriental studies under Tychsen at the university of Rostock, and afterwards continued them at Göttingen and Tübingen. He became a Latin master in Pestalozzi's famous institute in 1804, taught at Rostock as a Privatdozent in 1806, and in the following year was chosen to fill the chair of Oriental languages in the Russian university of Kazan. Though in 1815 he was invited to succeed Tychsen at Rostock, he preferred to go to St Petersburg, where he became director of the Asiatic museum and councillor of state. He died at St Petersburg.
Frähn wrote over 150 works. Among the more important are:
His description of some medals struck by the Samanid and Bouid princes was composed in Arabic because he had no Latin types.

Correspondence

Frähn had vivid correspondence with other academics. Among them also Samuel Gottlieb Rudolph Henzi, professor in Tartu.