Albert Socin

Albert Socin

Albert Socin (13 October 1844 in Basel – 24 June 1899 in Leipzig) was a Swiss orientalist, who specialized in the research of Neo-Aramaic, Kurdish and contemporary Arabic dialects. He also made contributions to the geography, archaeology, religion, art and literature of the Middle East.[1]

He studied philology at the University of Basel and Oriental studies at the universities of Göttingen and Leipzig,[2] receiving his habilitation for Oriental languages in 1871 at Basel. In 1873 he became an associate professor, then from 1876 to 1890 served as a full professor of Semitic languages at the University of Tübingen. From 1890 up until his death in 1899, he was a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Leipzig.[1]

In 1868–70, with Eugen Prym, he carried out language research in the Levant and Iraq, then in 1873 returned to the Middle East on behalf of the Baedeker publishing firm. He was a founding member of the Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palästinas ("German Society for the Exploration of Palestine").[1][2]

  1. ^ a b c Prof. Dr. phil. Albert Socin Professorenkatalog der Universität Leipzig
  2. ^ a b Socin, Albert Historischen Lexikon der Schweiz