Forchhammer Emil 1851-1890 Archaeologist, Pali scholar

Emil Forchhammer was a German-born Swiss Professor of Pali at Rangoon College, Myanmar. He collected and copied Pali and Talaing manuscripts which he deposited in the Bernard Free Library in Rangoon (now the National Library of Myanmar). He also worked as an archaeologist for the Survey of Burma, including being its first Director. In 1883 and 1884 he visited the Amherst, Prome and Thayetmyo districts collecting manuscripts and copying inscriptions. In 1885 he made an extensive tour of Arakan. He created a publication about Arakan which went to the Press in 1886 but was not actually published until 1891, a year after his death. From 1886 to 1888 he catalogued the library of the late Nyaungyan Prince and other Pali manuscripts. He suffered from ill health, but wished to survey Pagan, which he undertook in 1888-9. It was requested that he be allowed to return to Europe to complete his work on Pagan. Unfortunately, Forchhammer died in 1890 before his work could be completed.