The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Miklosich, Franz von

MIKLOSICH, Franz von, Austrian philologist: b. Luttenherg, Styria, 20 Nov. 1813; d. Vienna, 7 March 1891. He took his degree in philosophy at Gratz and in law at Vienna; and for a time practised law at Vienna, soon, however, abandoning that profession for the study of the Slavonic languages. He was appointed to a place in the Imperial Library in 1844 and retained it until 1862, also serving as professor of Slavonic philology at the University of Vienna in 1849-86. He was a man of profound scholarship and not only revolutionized modern Slavonic philology but made important contributions to the knowledge of the Albanian, Gypsy, modern Greek, Hungarian and Rumanian languages. He was a member of the Academy of Vienna and a corresponding member of the French Academy of Inscriptions. His first contribution to Slavonic philology was his review, in 1844, of Bopp's ‘Comparative Grammar.’ From that time he issued a large number of works, not only on the Slavonic but on other languages, all of high importance, and among which the most notable are ‘Vergeleichende Grammatik der Slawischen Sprachen’ (1852-74); ‘Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Slawischen Sprackhen’ (1886).