Theodore Duka

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[[File:TheodoreDuka.jpg|thumb]]
'''Theodore Duka''' or '''Duka Tivadar''' (22 June 1825 – 5 May 1908) was a [[Hungary|Hungarian]] army officer, who later became a doctor in [[England]] and worked in [[India]] on various topics, especially [[philology]].

== Life ==
Duka was born at Dukafalu, [[Sáros County]], to Francis de Duka and Johanna, daughter of Francis de Szechy. He studied at the Lutheran College at [[Eperjes]] and later studied law at the [[University of Budapest]]. In 1848 he served in the government working under Louis Kossuth, the Finance Minister. During the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848|war]], he joined the National Army and became an aide-de-camp to General [[Artúr Görgei|Arthur Görgey]], commander of the 7th Army Corps in the Hungarian National Army and saw action at [[Világos]] in 1849 and at the [[First Battle of Komárom (1849)|First Battle of Komárom]] on 26 April 1849. Duka and the other Hungarians surrendered to the Russians but were released. He made his way through Germany and France where he was helped by [[István Türr]]. In 1850 he reached London and he began to study medicine at [[St George's Hospital]]. His ability to speak several European languages helped and he taught German and studied English at the [[Birkbeck, University of London|Birkbeck Institution]]. Through the influence of [[George Pollock]], Duka received a commission as Assistant Surgeon in the Bengal Army and served in [[Monghyr]], [[Patna]], [[Shimla]] and [[Darjeeling]]. Here he studied many Indian languages. He also collected specimens of natural history, including nearly 500 bird skins and eggs which he sent to the Hungarian National Museum.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Keve, Andras|author2=Samuel, Nicolette|year=1969|title=Hungarian Ornithologists and Bird-collectors abroad and overseas|url=http://opuscula.elte.hu/PDF/Opuscula9_2_1969/Keve,%20A%20Samuel,%20N_9_2_9.pdf|journal=Opuscula Zool. Budapest|volume=9|issue=2|pages=339–356}}</ref> He married the daughter of Reverend Charles Taylor at Calcutta on 14 January 1855 and he retired from the [[Indian Medical Service]] on 27 March 1877 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.<ref name=stein>{{cite book|title=In memoriam Theodore Duka (1825-1908). A lecture read before the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, October 27, 1913| author=Stein, Aurel| year=1914|url=https://archive.org/details/inmemoriamtheodo00stei}}</ref>

Duka settled in England and devoted time to researching languages and was a Member of Council of the [[Royal Asiatic Society]] and served as president of the Tropical Section of the Eighth ''International Congress of Hygiene and Demography'' in 1894. The Society published, among other things, a scholarly article by Duka about the languages of Central Asia.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283404/page/n594/mode/1up?view=theater "The Ugor Branch of the Ural-Altaic Family of Languages," ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', Vol. 21, p.583 (1889).]</ref> His knowledge of languages was put to use by the [[British and Foreign Bible Society]] where he served as Vice President for many years. One of his books was on the life of his fellow countrymen, [[Sándor Kőrösi Csoma]], a pioneer of Tibetan studies in India. Csoma had nearly walked his way to India in his quest to determine if an idea prevalent in his time that the [[Magyar language]] was derived from a central Asian language possibly those spoken by the [[Uyghurs]]. Another major work of Duka was his ''Essay on Brahui grammar'' (1885). He took an interest in the [[Brahui language]] because it was insular and extremely different from the languages around where it was spoken and in some ways resembling the insular situation of the Magyar language.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00019262|title=Art. II.—An Essay on the Brāhūī Grammar, after the German of the late Dr. Trumpp, of Munich University|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland|volume=19|pages=59–135|year=2011|last1=Duka|first1=Theodore|url=https://archive.org/stream/journalroyalasi27irelgoog#page/n70/mode/2up/}}</ref><ref name=stein />

Duka died on 5 May 1908 and was survived by his wife and two sons.<ref name=stein />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links ==
* [http://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E001468b.htm Royal College of Surgeons - biography]

* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Theodore Duka}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duka, Theodor}}
[[Category:1825 births]]
[[Category:1908 deaths]]
[[Category:Hungarian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London]]
[[Category:Hungarian surgeons]]
[[Category:British surgeons]]
[[Category:Linguists from the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British biographers]]
[[Category:Indian Medical Service officers]]
[[Category:19th-century Hungarian physicians]]
[[Category:19th-century British medical doctors]]

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Theodore Duka