Ernest Bender

Who was Ernest Bender?

Ernest Bender was a Professor of Indo-Aryan languages and literature at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bender was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on January 2, 1919, before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania when he was aged four. He was admitted into the selective Greek and Latin program of Boys High School, and graduated in 1937. Bender undertook his undergraduate studies at Temple University where he continued his studies in classics, firmly entrenching his lifelong interest in philology and cultural history. Upoon earning his B.A. in 1941, Bender became a graduate student in the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Pennsylvania. There he became acquainted with the three teachers who influenced him the most: W. Norman Brown in Indology, and Zellig Harris and Henry Hoenigswald in linguistics. Through Brown, Bender pursued a career in Indology, specializing in medieval Jainism and its associated literature and art.

Shortly after the United States declared war on Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Bender was drafted into the United States Air Force, but was discharged from active duty due to medical reasons.