Eugen Prym


Eugen Prym was a German orientalist, who specialized in Semitic languages, especially Arabic and Aramaic. He was the brother of mathematician Friedrich Prym.
He studied comparative linguistics and Oriental languages at the universities of Berlin, Leipzig and Bonn, receiving his doctorate in 1868 with a thesis on the Islamic polymath Ibn Khallikan. As a student, his influences included Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer in Leipzig and Johann Gildemeister at the University of Bonn. From November 1868, with Albert Socin, he carried out linguistic research for one and a half years in the Middle East. Following his return to Bonn, he gave lectures in Semitic languages at the University, where in 1890 he attained a full professorship. In addition to Semitic languages, he also taught classes on Sanskrit and Persian.

Selected works