Isaac Jacob Schmidt

Who was Isaac Jacob Schmidt?

Isaac Jacob Schmidt was an Orientalist specializing in Mongolian and Tibetan. Schmidt was a Moravian missionary to the Kalmyks and devoted much of his labours to Bible translation.

Born in Amsterdam, he spent much of his career in St. Petersburg as a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He published the first grammar and dictionary of Mongolian, as well as a grammar and dictionary of Tibetan. He also translated Sagang Sechen's Erdeni-yin tobči into German, and several Geser Khan epics into Russian and German. His works are regarded as ground-breaking for the establishment of Mongolian and Tibetan studies.