Gabelentz

Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der (1807-1874), a German linguist and ethnologist, was born at Altenburg, where too he was educated under the celebrated Greek scholar, Matthiae, and gave his attention especially to Arabic and Chinese. He then proceeded to Leipzig and Gottingen. In 1830 he entered the public service of the Duchy of Altenburg, and in 1848 was member of the Frankfort Parliament, becoming in the same year President of the Altenburg Ministry. From 1851-68 he was President of the Second Chamber, retiring in the latter year to devote himself entirely to study. It was in 1832 that he published his Elements of Manchourian Grammar, and in 1843-46 he joined with an old school-fellow in the translation of Ulfilas's Gothic Bible. He made researches into and wrote upon many Eastern tongues, from Suaheli to Formosan, and in 1860 he wrote a treatise upon the Passive in Universal Grammar. His great work (1873) was a treatise upon the Melanesian and Malay group of languages.