Kégl Sándor: A perzsa irodalom vonzásában: Válogatott tanulmányok. Szerk. Dévényi Kinga (Budapest Oriental Reprints, Ser. A 9.)

The legacy of Alexander Kégl (1862-1920)

The legacy of Alexander Kégl (1862-1920) Alexander Kégl was an outstanding polymath of Oriental studies working in the last decades of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. A rich landowner in the suburbs of Budapest and thus free from financial needs, he was able to devote his whole life to the study of Oriental languages (Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Urdu and Sanskrit). As a student of Ignaz Goldziher and Arminius Vámbéry at the University of Budapest, he became the first professor of Persian language and literature in 1893, but he also taught Sanskrit literature for a brief period of time. Kégl, a humble character, spent most of his life in his mansion in the vicinity of Budapest where he died unmarried in 1920. There he treasured his vast library, a rich collection of rare Oriental books and manuscripts. This erudite Hungarian nobleman visited Persia for scholarly purposes in 1889/1890 spending some three months in Tehran. Kégl was a well-known Orientalist in his time and first of all an expert of Persian literature. His primary interest focused on Qäjär poetry which is evidenced by several studies in Hungarian and German about the leading Persian poets of the 19th century.

1 These articles can be perceived as the most valuable works of his vast oeuvre. Beside these works on Qäjär literature based on his rare manuscripts, Kégl devoted himself to the study of Persian folklore. His essay on the folk poetry of Qäjär Tehran, a remarkable collection of folk songs and poems reflecting the period of Näsir al-DTn shah's rule, still awaits scientific rediscovery. Beside his studies on Qäjär poetry, Kégl also made important research in the field of Classical Persian poetry. As a collector of Mediaeval manuscripts, his interest focused on the works of Persian mystics, like Sanä'I and RümT. His scholarly pursuit, however, also extended to works of other, lesser known authors of Classical Persian literature. For instance, his thorough study about Amir Khusrau DihlawT, the greatest Persian poet of India, is of particular importance. In this essay he combined two different areas of his scholarly interest, Persia and India. In the last years of his career his interest turned towards Ottoman Turkish and Persian cultural and literary contacts. One of the last works of this Hungarian polyglot was a treatise on the Persian poems of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I. 1 For Kégl's bibliography see: http://kegl.mtak.hu/en/14.htm. 29