Hans Wehr

{{Short description|German Arabist (1909–1981)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

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| name = Hans Wehr

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| image = Hanswehr1972.jpg

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| caption = Wehr in 1972

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| birth_name = Hans Bodo Wehr

| birth_date = {{birth date|1909|07|05|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Leipzig, German Empire

| death_date = {{death date and age|1981|05|24|1909|07|05|df=yes}}

| death_place = Münster, West Germany

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| discipline = Arabist

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| workplaces = University of Münster (1957{{ndash}}1974)

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| notable_works = Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart (1952)

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Hans Bodo Wehr ({{IPA|de|veːɐ̯|lang-pron}}; 5 July 1909{{snd}}24 May 1981) was a German Arabist. He is best known for his work on A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, originally published in German as {{lang|de|Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart}} in 1952. The system of transliteration used in the dictionary has become known as Hans Wehr transliteration.

Life

Wehr was born in Leipzig in 5 July 1909. He attended a gymnasium in Halle, and then studied at universities in Halle, Berlin, and Leipzig. He received his doctorate in 1935 and his habilitation in 1939.{{r|e}}

He joined the Nazi Party in 1940, and wrote an essay arguing that Germany should ally with the Arabs against Great Britain and France. He had begun work on an Arabic{{ndash}}German dictionary, and the project received funding from the German government, which intended to use make use of the dictionary in translating Mein Kampf into Arabic. For a time, Wehr was assisted in his project by Hedwig Klein.{{r|b}}

His dictionary, entitled {{lang|de|Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart}}, was eventually published in 1952. An English version, edited by J Milton Cowan and entitled A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, was published in 1961.{{r|e}} The dictionary used a new system of transliteration, which is today known as Hans Wehr transliteration.

Wehr was a professor at the University of Münster from 1957 until his retirement in 1974. He died in Münster in 24 May 1981.{{r|e}}

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite journal|last=Eisenstein|first=H.|year=1981|title=Hans Wehr (5. Juli 1909 bis 24. Mai 1981)|journal=Archiv für Orientforschung|volume=28|pages=283–284|jstor=41637807|lang=de}}

{{cite web|last=Buchen|first=Stefan|author-link=:de:Stefan Buchen|date=3 April 2018|title=Hedwig Klein and "Mein Kampf": The unknown Arabist|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/hedwig-klein-and-mein-kampf-the-unknown-arabist|website=Qantara.de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403120116/https://en.qantara.de/content/hedwig-klein-and-mein-kampf-the-unknown-arabist|archive-date=3 April 2018|url-status=live}}

}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehr, Hans}}

Category:1909 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:20th-century German lexicographers

Category:Academic staff of the University of Münster

Category:German Arabists

Category:German orientalists

Category:Lexicographers of Arabic

Category:Nazi Party members

Category:People from Leipzig