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SOLOMON CAESAR MALAN (1812-1894)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 461 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SOLOMON See also:CAESAR See also:MALAN (1812-1894)  , See also:British divine and orientalist, was by See also:birth a Swiss descended from an exiled See also:French See also:family, and was See also:born at See also:Geneva on the 22nd of See also:April 1812, where his See also:father, Dr See also:Henry See also:Abraham See also:Caesar See also:Malan (1787-1864) enjoyed a See also:great reputation as a See also:Protestant divine . From his earliest youth he manifested a remarkable See also:faculty for the study of See also:languages, and when he came to See also:Scotland as See also:tutor in the See also:marquis of See also:Tweeddale's family at the See also:age of 18 he had already made progress in See also:Sanskrit, Arabic and See also:Hebrew . In 1833 he matriculated at St See also:Edmund See also:Hall, See also:Oxford; and See also:English being almost an unknown See also:tongue to him, he petitioned the examiners to allow him to do his See also:paper See also:work of the examination in French, See also:German, See also:Spanish, See also:Italian, Latin or See also:Greek, rather than in English . But his See also:request was not granted . After gaining the Boden and the See also:Pusey and Ellerton scholarships, he graduated 2nd class in Lit. hum. in 1837 . He then proceeded to See also:India as classical lecturer at See also:Bishop's See also:College, See also:Calcutta, to which See also:post he added the duties of secretary to the See also:Bengal See also:branch of the Royal See also:Asiatic Society; and although compelled by illness to return in 184o, laid the See also:foundation of a knowledge of Tibetan and See also:Chinese . After serving various curacies, he was presented in 1845 to the living of Broadwindsor, See also:Dorset, which he held until 1886 . During this entire See also:period he continued to See also:augment his linguistic knowledge, which he carried so far as to be able to preach in that most difficult See also:language, Georgian, on a visit which he paid to See also:Nineveh in 1872 . His See also:translations from the Armenian, Georgian and Coptic were numerous . He applied his Chinese learning to the determination of important points connected with Chinese See also:religion, and published a vast number of parallel passages illustrative of the See also:Book of See also:Proverbs . In 188o the university of See also:Edinburgh conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D . No See also:modern See also:scholar, perhaps, has so nearly approached the linguistic omniscience of See also:Mezzofanti; but, like Mezzofanti, Dr Malan was more of a linguist than a critic .

He made himself conspicuous by the vehemence of his opposition to See also:

Westcott and See also:Hort's See also:text of the New Testament, and to the transliteration of See also:Oriental languages, on neither of which points did he in See also:general obtain the suffrages of scholars . His extensive and valuable library, some See also:special collections excepted, was presented by him in his lifetime to the See also:Indian See also:Institute at Oxford . He died at See also:Bournemouth on the 25th of See also:November 1894 . His See also:life has been written by his son .

End of Article: SOLOMON CAESAR MALAN (1812-1894)
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Additional information and Comments

What of his wife and at least one daughter, Henrietta? She married James Cooley Fletcher frsom Indianapolis in 1850. Her future father-in-law, Calvin Fletcher, Sr., had misgivings about the marriage, and subsequent proved him largely correct. She had not skills in handling money and was surely a major factor in her later divorce from J.C.F. Robert W. Smith (Indianapolis, IN)
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