Turner , Sir , Ralph Lilley , 1888-1983 , Knight , Orientalist

Born, 1888; educated at the Perse Grammar School; Christ's College, Cambridge (Senior Scholar); first class, Classical Tripos Part I, 1909; first class, Oriental Languages Tripos, 1910; first class, Classical Tripos Part II, 1911; awarded the Brotherton Memorial Sanskrit Prize; elected Fellow of Christ's College, 1912; Indian Educational Service Lecturer in Sanskrit at Queen's College, Benares, 1913; Wilson Philological Lecturer, Bombay University, 1914; served with the 2nd/3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles in Palestine and India, 1915-1919; awarded the Military Cross; twice mentioned in despatches; Examiner, Oriental Languages Tripos and Classical Tripos Part II, Cambridge; Professor of Indian Linguistics, Benares Hindu University, 1920-1922; Wilson Philological Lecturer, Bombay University, 1922; Professor of Sanskrit, School of Oriental Studies, University of London, 1922-1954; Philological Society Honorary Treasurer, 1931-1962, and President, 1939-1943; Director of the School of Oriental Studies, from 1938 the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 1937-1957; under his Directorship the first department of the languages and cultures of Africa in a British university was begun, and the School moved from the City of London to Bloomsbury; during the Second World War, following his warnings that the forces lacked sufficient personnel trained in Asian languages, SOAS trained servicemen in Chinese and Japanese for intelligence work; elected Fellow of the British Academy, 1942; instrumental in the appointment of the Scarborough Commission (which was to recommend expanded provision in British universities for the study of Asia and Africa), 1944; subsequently engaged in implementing the Commission's recommendations at SOAS; Knight, 1950; Honorary Fellow, Christ's College, Cambridge, 1950; Royal Asiatic Society President, 1952-1955, Gold Medallist, 1953, and Honorary Vice-President, 1963; retired as Professor, 1954; Emeritus Professor, 1954; Honorary Fellow, SOAS, 1957; Honorary Fellow, Deccan College, Poona; member of the Inter-Services Committee on Language Training, Linguists' Committee of Ministry of Labour and National Service, Colonial Social Science Research Council, Advisory Committee on the Humanities of the British Council, Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies, Treasury sub-committee for studentships in foreign languages and cultures, and University Grants Committee sub-committee on Oriental and African Studies; member of various overseas learned societies in Europe, America and Asia; recipient of numerous medals, honorary degrees, and awards; died, 1983. Publications: various works on linguistic subjects, including Indo-Aryan languages, among them A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of the Nepali Language (1931), and A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages (1966), with Indexes by his wife Lady Dorothy Rivers Turner (1969) and a Phonetic analysis (1971), and the posthumously-published Addenda, ed J C Wright (1985).