Thomas, Frederick William, 1867-1956

1898-1903 Assistant Librarian, India Office; 1903-1927 Librarian, India Office; 1927-1937 Boden Professor of Sanskrit, University of Oxford.

Epithet: orientalist

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001241.0x00033a

Frederick William Thomas (1867-1956) orientalist; educated at King Edward School in Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained First Class Parts I and II Classical Tripos, 1887-1889 and First Class Indian Languages Tripos, 1890. Thomas was made a Fellow of Trinity College, 1892; assistant librarian at the India Office, 1898 and librarian, 1903-1927; Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, 1927-1937. He became a Fellow of the British Academy, 1927; was awarded Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, 1928 and received honorary degrees from Munich, Allahabad and Birmingham. Thomas was a pioneer in Asian philology and an authority on Jainism.

Reference: Deposit information.

From the guide to the The F.W. Thomas Collection, 1891-1936, (University of Birmingham Information Services, Special Collections Department)