Gyula Germanus

Who is Gyula Germanus?

Gyula Germanus, alias Julius Abdulkerim Germanus, was a professor of oriental studies, a Hungarian writer and Islamologist of Jewish origin, member of the Hungarian Parliament and member of multiple Arabic academies of science, who made significant contributions to the study of the Arabic language, history of language and cultural history. He was a follower of the famous orientalist, Sir Ármin Vámbéry and became a scholar of world repute.

Germanus was a language professor at the Hungarian Royal Eastern Academy from 1912, and a teacher of Turkish and Arabic from 1915. During World War I he made several secret missions to Turkey. In 1915 he was there as member of the Turkish Red Crescent and also joined the battle at the Dardanelles.