Sámuel Brassai and the Sanskrit Language
Sámuel Brassai and the Sanskrit Language

Summary/Abstract: The name of Sámuel Brassai resonates with anyone of Hungarian mother tongue or with those familiar with Hungarian culture. Should one be asked who Brassai was, the likely answer would be the somewhat clichéd phrase “the last Transylvanian polymath”. Indeed, this seems justified: he was the last Transylvanian intellectual who achieved lasting accomplishments in several branches of science while also moving with ease in a variety of artistic domains. He is known to have made significant contributions to literary studies, linguistics, economics and the natural sciences, as well as to have dealt with questions of philosophy of art and aesthetics, and to have written art criticism. What is far less known, however, is that Brassai was perhaps the first person in Transylvania to undertake a systematic scholarly engagement with the Sanskrit language and, through it, with Indian culture. The present study seeks to present this dimension of Brassai’s intellectual profile.

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