The Most Famous

LINGUISTS from India

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This page contains a list of the greatest Indian Linguists. The pantheon dataset contains 214 Linguists, 1 of which were born in India. This makes India the birth place of the 40th most number of Linguists behind Liberia, and Argentina.

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Indian Linguists of all time. This list of famous Indian Linguists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Patanjali

1. Patanjali (-200 - -150)

With an HPI of 64.07, Patanjali is the most famous Indian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 65 different languages on wikipedia.

Patanjali (Sanskrit: पतञ्जलि, IAST: Patañjali, Sanskrit pronunciation: [pɐtɐɲdʑɐli]) also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Estimates based on analysis of his works suggests that he may have lived between the 2nd century BCE and the 4th century CE. Patanjali is regarded as an avatar of Adi Sesha. He is believed to be an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these are the Yoga Sutras, a classical yoga text. There is speculation as to whether the sage Patañjali is the author of all the works attributed to him, as there are a number of known historical authors of the same name. A great deal of scholarship has been devoted over the 20th century to the issue of the historicity or identity of this author or these authors.

Photo of Mary Boyce

2. Mary Boyce (1920 - 2006)

With an HPI of 47.88, Mary Boyce is the 2nd most famous Indian Linguist.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Nora Elisabeth Mary Boyce (2 August 1920 – 4 April 2006) was a British scholar of Iranian languages, and an authority on Zoroastrianism. She was Professor of Iranian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. The Royal Asiatic Society's annual Boyce Prize for outstanding contributions to the study of religion is named after her.

Photo of Monier Monier-Williams

3. Monier Monier-Williams (1819 - 1899)

With an HPI of 45.04, Monier Monier-Williams is the 3rd most famous Indian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Sir Monier Monier-Williams (; né Williams; 12 November 1819 – 11 April 1899) was a British scholar who was the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University, England. He studied, documented and taught Asian languages, especially Sanskrit, Persian and Hindustani.

People

Pantheon has 3 people classified as Indian linguists born between 200 BC and 1920. Of these 3, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased Indian linguists include Patanjali, Mary Boyce, and Monier Monier-Williams. As of April 2024, 1 new Indian linguists have been added to Pantheon including Mary Boyce.

Deceased Indian Linguists

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Newly Added Indian Linguists (2024)

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