Franz Bopp

Franz Bopp (1791–1867) founded comparative linguistics. From 1821 he taught oriental literature in Berlin, and from 1825 Sanskrit.

Hegel calls him “my learned friend and colleague.” For the lectures on the philosophy of history and on religion, Bopp’s work was the source of what Hegel knew about India — an example of how directly his world history depended on the state of research of his time.