Niels Ludvig Westergaard

Who was Niels Ludvig Westergaard?

Niels Ludvig Westergaard was a Danish Orientalist born in København. He was the father of economist Harald Westergaard.

He studied Old Norse and Sanskrit in Copenhagen, continuing his studies at the University of Bonn, and also in London, Paris and Oxford. After returning to Denmark, he published "Radices linguae sanscritae".

From 1841 to 1844 he journeyed throughout India and Persia, where he conducted important investigations in Bombay and at Persepolis. In 1845 he was appointed professor of Indo-Oriental philology at the University of Copenhagen.