Niels Ludvig Westergaard, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Niels Ludvig Westergaard

Danish orientalist

Date of Birth: 27-Oct-1815

Place of Birth: Copenhagen, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark

Date of Death: 09-Sep-1878

Profession: university teacher, linguist

Nationality: Denmark

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Niels Ludvig Westergaard (27 October 1815 – 9 September 1878) was a Danish Orientalist born in København.
He was the father of economist Harald Westergaard (1853-1936). Westergaard studied Old Norse and Sanskrit in Copenhagen, continuing his studies at the University of Bonn (1838 with Christian Lassen 1800–1876), and also in London (1839), 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 1844 he began deciphering ancient Elamite cuneiform using the 3-way parallel text of the 6th cent.
BC Behistun Inscription, finding 96 syllabic signs, 16 ideograms, and 5 determinants.In 1845 he was appointed professor of Indo-Oriental philology at the University of Copenhagen.



Alternative names	Budtz Müller "Budtz Müller & Co. phot. Bredgade No 21"
Description	Danish photographer and pharmacist
Date of birth/death	26 December 1837	30 December 1884
Location of birth/death	Mariager	Copenhagen
Work location	Copenhagen
Authority control	: Q12304611 VIAF: 37218974 BNF: 153547009 RKD: 412548