I just want here to add one thing: Werner was an incredibly gentle person, both in the way he spoke and the way he acted, but also at the same time with more than a bit of a sense of humor. I met him first in Kyoto around 1990, where I attended his Sanskrit course, as well as German (! We read in Windische's Geschichte der Sanskrit-Philologie). Among all the many memories (including--proving that this is the Kāliyuga, in which everything is inverted and backwards-- being one of the examiners for his PhD!!) , I very fondly remember when, some few years ago, I was in Paris, and had just visited the church at Montmarte with my son. It was a really hot day and we were looking for a cool drink. Walking down the street someone from behind me in French spoke as if begging for a coin, then tugging at my back. When I turned around, there was Werner with a gigantic smile on his face! It was so utterly charming to see him again in that way. I shall sincerely miss him.
Jonathan On Wed, Oct 4, 2023 at 3:24 PM Asko Parpola via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote: > > I am very sorry to hear about the passing of Werner Knobl. He was less than a > year my junior, and we became friends during my one-year stay in Kyoto in > 1999. I met him also later, at the World Sanskrit conference in Helsinki in > 2003, and during my stay in Kyoto in 2006. Werner remembered having seen me > in Tübingen around 1970, when Dieter Dütting of the Max Planck Institute > invited me to give a lecture on the Indus script — I remembered only meeting > Werner’s teacher Paul Thieme. Werner told me that he revered Thieme so much > that he was unable to publish anything as long as Thieme was alive, for the > fear bthat it would not meet Thieme’s standard. I give below details of his > life not found in Natiliya’s obituary. His surname Knobl comes from the > German word Knobel. > > Knobl, Werner Franz (born in Eger, Bohemia [now Cheb in Czech Republic] 12 > Sept 1942 - died 28 Sept 2023). Johannes-Gutenberg-Gymnasium, Wiesbaden, > 1953-1962. Studied Philosophy, Theology, Indology, Arabistik and Linguistics > at Frankfurt (1962-1964), Paris (1964-1965), Mainz (1965-1966) and Tübingen > (1966-1980). Wrote an Indological Dissertation in 1980 (Promotor: Paul > Thieme) which remained undefended. Went to Japan in Sept 1980. Taught Vedic > and Classical Sanskrit as full-time "Foreign Lecturer" at Kanazawa > (1981-1991) and Kyoto (1991-2006); as part-time teacher at Fukui (1980-1984), > Hiroshima (1989-2001), Otani (2006-2009) and Kyoto (2006-2009). Vedic classes > at the Leiden Summer School (from 2008 to 2023). Held an intensive course in > "Vedic grammar and syntax" inclusive of reading Vedic hymns and prose (in > German) at the University of Halle, Germany, on 14-25 Sept 2009. Ph. D., > Leiden University, 30 Sept 2009 (Promotor: Alexander Lubotsky). Married to > Chizuko Suzuki, three children (and, in 2010, one grandson). Home address: > 9-4 Shibuse-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-606-8283 Japan. > > > Missing Werner, Asko Parpola > > > > On 4. Oct 2023, at 10.53, Nataliya Yanchevskaya via INDOLOGY > <indology@list.indology.info> wrote: > > Dear Collegues, > I am so sorry to pass along the sad news: Werner Knobl, a scholar of Vedic > language, texts, and culture, passed away on September 28, 2023. > He will be greatly missed by many. > Below I am forwarding Werner's orbituary written by Natālija Burišina who is > not a member of the list. > NY > > --------------------------- > > Dear All, > > On behalf of Dr. Werner Knobl’s students, I have very sad news to announce… > Our Beloved Teacher, Werner, the Master of Vedic lore whose ocean of > knowledge was enormous and absolutely unique in its own way, passed away last > Thursday, on 28th September. There are no words to express how much I am > already missing our Great Teacher, our classes, discussions, and our Little > Vedic Sanskrit Lovers community. > > Let me briefly sketch our first encounter and further collaboration. > Alongside with other Vedic Sanskrit learners, I joined the Leiden Summer > School in Languages and Linguistics in 2022, where we spent two beautiful and > saturated weeks studying fragments from the Ṛgveda and Brāhmaṇas. Thus, when > the Summer School was nearing to the end some of us expressed a wish to > continue our studies online. After that Werner discussed it with the > Director, Sasha Lubotsky to receive his approval, which was then generously > granted. > > And so, until the next Summer School in Leiden we were lucky to meet online > 10 times during the autumn-winter of 2022, and the same in the spring of > 2023. Our group was formed of former and current Werner’s students, who > joined the classes from different corners of the world. Werner always > welcomed questions either sent to him by email, or asked during the class. He > was happy to give elaborate answers to any difficult questions, and did not > hesitate to discuss and oppose the opinions of other scholars, and even His > teacher, the late Paul Thieme, whom he frequently recalled with great > veneration, however, He always did so with great respect. Moreover, He > continuously encouraged us to have our own analyses and never missed to add > the phrase: “You are not obliged to trust me,” or else “If you want to accept > this argument […]”. I dare to say that most of us were impatiently looking > forward to our weekly online sessions that allowed us not only to get > immersed in the realm of Vedic mythopoetics that dates back for more than > 3000 years, but also to look at the aspects of Historical Linguistics, > intricate Grammar matters, Vedic intonation, philology, translation problems > of some difficult passages, etc. > > I was lucky to meet Our Great Teacher, Werner, again in Leiden during the > closing party of the Summer School. > > This was my second and last encounter in life with our Beloved Teacher and > his companion Carole with whom we had a wonderful conversation about our > passion for Vedic Sanskrit, about how she met Werner in Japan and many more… > > I am immensely grateful to Our Beloved Teacher for all the knowledge He > shared with us, for allowing us to discern all the subtleties of the Vedic > poetry through His lens; for His kindness and all the support that every > aspiring student and scholar needs so much at the initial stages. I still > keep on receiving messages expressing gratitude for His kindness from > scholars and students whom He had supported with both critique and advice… > > For all of this, I am ineffably grateful to You, our Beloved Teacher, and as > such You will always remain in my memories. I am somehow certain that our > souls will meet again, somewhere in svargaloka… > > R.I.P. > > > <image.png> > > > Ar cieņu > Met vriendelijke groet, > Best regards, > > Natālija Burišina > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > INDOLOGY@list.indology.info > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > INDOLOGY@list.indology.info > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology -- Prof. dr. J.A. Silk Leiden University Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b 2311 BZ Leiden website: www.OpenPhilology.eu copies of my publications may be found at https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk _______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list INDOLOGY@list.indology.info https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
