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'''Johann Wilhelm Richard Schmidt''' (29 January 1866 – 15 November 1939) was a German Indologist who specialized in Sanskrit, Pāli and Marathi. He worked several Indian erotic texts and published a translation of the [[Kama Sutra|Kamasutra]] by [[Vātsyāyana|Vatsyayana]] and the [[Ratirahasya|Ratirahasyam]] by Pandit Kokkoka which went into multiple editions.<ref>{{cite book|title=Das Ratirahasyam. Die Indische ars amatoria|translator=Schmidt, Richard|place= Berlin |year=1903|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.219313/}}</ref>

Schmidt was born in [[Aschersleben]], son of a teacher. He studied in [[Eisleben]] and went to the [[Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg|University of Halle]] where he received a doctorate in 1890 for a study of [[Śukasaptati|Sukasaptati]] under [[Richard Pischel]] and [[Karl Friedrich Geldner]]. In 1897 he translated the Kamasutra of Vatsyayana. His habilitation was in 1898 at Halle where he taught alongside Pischel and others as a private lecturer. He taught Sanskrit and lexicography at Halle. He worked as a librarian at the [[Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft]] from 1904 to 1910. He spent some years teaching in Eisleben and in 1910 he moved to the University of Münster, becoming an ordinary professor in 1919. He joined the [[NSDAP]] in 1933 (member number 2492244). He added to [[Otto von Böhtlingk|Böhtlingk]]'s Sanskrit dictionary. He examined the Katha tradition and had an interest in Sanskrit erotic texts. In 1902 he wrote on the love life of the Sanskrit people. In 1907 he wrote on fakirs in ancient and modern India covering yoga traditions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indologie.uni-halle.de/institutsgeschichte/richard_schmidt/|title=Schmidt, Richard|publisher= Die Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catalogus-professorum-halensis.de/schmidtrichard.html|title=Richard Schmidt| publisher=Die Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-11 |title=SCHMIDT, Richard – Persons of Indian Studies by Prof. Dr. Klaus Karttunen |url=https://whowaswho-indology.info/9986/schmidt-richard-2/ |access-date=2026-01-01 |language=en-US}}</ref>

His major publications include:
* 1890 Vier Erzählungen aus der Sukasaptati
* 1897 Das Kamasutram des Vatsyayana
* 1907 Fakire und Fakirtum im alten und modernen Indien
* 1919 Das alte und moderne Indien
* 1922 Beiträge zu indischen Erotik
* 1924 Elementarbuch der Saurasen

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.134716 Das Kamasutram des Vatsyayana] (1915)
* [https://archive.org/details/dieukasaptatitex00schmuoft Die Sukasaptati (Textus Ornatior)] (1899) ([https://archive.org/details/dertextusornatio00schmuoft 1896 edition])
* [https://archive.org/details/beitrgezurindi00schm Beiträge zur indischen Erotik. Das Liebesleben des Sanskritvolkes] (1922)
* [https://archive.org/details/fakireundfakirt00schm Fakire und Fakirtum im alten und modernen Indien] (1908)
* [https://archive.org/details/dasalteundmodern00schm Das alte und moderne Indien] (1919)
* [https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.01597 Das Pañcatantram: textus ornatior, eine altindische Märchesammlung]
* [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.142224 Liebe und Ehe im Alten Und Modernen Indien] (1904)

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Richard}}
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:German Indologists]]
[[Category:Linguists of Sanskrit]]
[[Category:University of Halle alumni]]

Richard Schmidt (Indologist) - Revision history

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