Henk Bodewitz
{{Short description|Dutch Indologist (1939–2022)}}
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| image = Henk_Bodewitz.jpg
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|10|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Gramsbergen, Netherlands
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|08|18|1939|10|13|df=y}}
| death_place = Utrecht, Netherlands
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| children = 2
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| alma_mater = Utrecht University
| thesis_title = {{translit|sa|Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa}} I, 1-65: translation and commentary, with a study: {{translit|sa|Agnihotra}} and {{translit|sa|Prāṇāgnihotra}}
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| thesis_year = 1973
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| doctoral_advisor = Jan Gonda
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| discipline = Indology
| sub_discipline = {{hlist|Sanskrit|Indo-European studies|historical Vedic religion}}
| workplaces = {{hlist|Utrecht University|Leiden University}}
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Hendrik Wilhelm "Henk" Bodewitz (13 October 1939 – 18 August 2022) was a Dutch Indologist. He was a professor at the Universities of Utrecht and later Leiden between 1976 and 2002.
Career
Between 1952 and 1958 he attended the gymnasium in Coevorden. He obtained a degree in classical languages at Utrecht University in 1963 and subsequently a further degree in Indo-Iranian studies in 1966.{{cite web |author= |url=http://dutchstudies-satsea.nl/auteur/29/HendrikWilhelmHenk-Bodewitz.html |title=Hendrik Wilhelm (Henk) Bodewitz |language=Dutch |publisher=Dutch Studies on South Asia, Tibet and classical Southeast Asia |date= |accessdate=19 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419043226/http://dutchstudies-satsea.nl/auteur/29/HendrikWilhelmHenk-Bodewitz.html |archive-date=19 April 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Bodewitz started working at Utrecht University as an assistant professor of Sanskrit in 1966. He did so for two years and then became an associate professor at Leiden University, which he remained until 1976. In 1973 Bodewitz earned his PhD under Jan Gonda at Utrecht University. In 1976 he was appointed as full professor of Sanskrit and Indo-European linguistics and he succeeded Gonda in that position.{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.mareonline.nl/2002/09/09.html |title=Hoogleraar Henk Bodewitz neemt afscheid De laatste der sanskritisten |language=Dutch |publisher=MARE online |date=7 November 2002 |accessdate=19 June 2016}} In 1988 his teaching assignment was changed to Indian and Iranian languages and cultures, especially Sanskrit. In 1992 his chair was scrapped in a reorganization in which the departments of Sanskrit of Utrecht and Leiden merged. Bodewitz was able to assume the professorship of Sanskrit at Leiden University the same year.
He took up early emeritus status in 2002 due to the introduction of the Bachelor/Master system in the Netherlands. When he left he was the last full professor of Sanskrit in the Netherlands.
Bodewitz was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1987.{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/3894 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618232553/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/3894 |title=Henk Bodewitz |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |date= |archive-date=18 June 2016 |accessdate=19 June 2016}} In 1988 he was a founding member of the Academia Europaea.{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Bodewitz_Hendrik |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328104925/https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Bodewitz_Hendrik |title=Hendrik Bodewitz |publisher=Academia Europaea |date= |archive-date=28 March 2019}}
Personal life and death
Bodewitz was born in Gramsbergen on 13 October 1939. He died in Utrecht on 18 August 2022.{{cite web|author= |url=https://profs.library.uu.nl/index.php/profrec/getprofdata/216/1/11/0 |title=Prof.dr. H.W. Bodewitz (1939 - 2022) |language=Dutch |publisher=Utrecht University |date= |accessdate=20 February 2023}}{{cite web |last=Bisschop |first=Peter |title=In Memoriam: Prof.dr. Henk Bodewitz (1939–2022) |website=Leiden University |date=18 August 2022 |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2022/08/in-memoriam-prof.dr.-henk-bodewitz-1939-2022 |access-date=20 March 2025}} His wife, Janneke, died three weeks before him. They had two children.{{r|leiden}}
References
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Category:Academic staff of Leiden University
Category:Members of Academia Europaea
Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Category:People from Hardenberg
Category:Dutch Sanskrit scholars
Category:Utrecht University alumni