Schultze-Jena, Leonhard Sigmund b. May 28, 1872; Jena,Thuringia d. March 29, 1955; Marburg, Hesse
German geographer, ethnologist, and student of the Indian languages of Central America.
Leonhard Schultze, the son of a well- known gynecologist, studied medicine, natural sciences, and zoology at the universities of Kiel, Jena, Lausanne, and Berlin and completed his PhD under Ernst Haeckel in 1896.
Only three years later he qualified to assume a professorship (Habilitation) in Jena. As associate lecturer in zoology, he undertook his first research expedition to German southwest Africa from 1903 to 1905. In the course of this journey, the initial purpose of which was the exploration of the coastal fishing grounds, his interests expanded to include geography and ethnology. His major account of this journey, Aus Nama- land und Kalahari (1907), was so admired for its brilliant descriptions and comprehensive approach that he was offered an extraordinary professorship of geography in Jena in 1908 on the recommendation of Hans Heinrich Joseph Meyer, although he did not have a qualification in geography. After a year spent as a professor in Kiel, he moved to the University of Marburg in 1913, where he taught and researched until his retirement in 1937. He was also director of the Institut fur Grenz-und Auslandsdeutsch- tum (Institute for Germans in Border Regions and Abroad) from 1919 to 1926.In the 1920s Schultze, who had now added the suffix “Jena” to his name, turned to the study of Central America and Mexico, with a strong emphasis on
linguistic research. He undertook a research expedition to Central America from 1929 to 1931 to record the everyday speech of the Indian peoples. He first stayed in the Mexican provinces of Guerrero and Oaxaca among the Tlapaneca, Mixteca, and Aztec language groups; subsequently he traveled to the western highlands of Guatemala to study the Mayan language of the Quiche. His last project was to record the language of the Pipil in Salvador.
Using these materials he developed comprehensive language textbooks in Germany, analyzing and transcribing the Indian languages and translating them into German (Indiana, 3 vols., 1933— 1938). His translation of the holy book of the Quiche, the Popol Vuh, is considered to be his most significant achievement. This is one of the most important sources for the cultural history of the ancient Indian cultures in Central America. In the last years of his life Schultze-Jena studied the history, culture, and languages of the ancient Aztecs.Heinz Peter Brogiato
See also Meyer, Hans Heinrich Joseph References and Further Reading Ruhnau, Elke. “Berliner Sahagun-Pioniere: Eduard Seler, Leonard Schultze-Jena, Walter Lehmann und Cacilie Seler- Sachs.” In Die Berliner und Brandenburger Lateinamerikaforschung in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Personen und Institutionen. Ed. Gregor Wolff. Berlin: Wiss. Verlag, 2001, pp. 241-253.
Termer, Franz. “Leonhard Schultze Jena (18.5.1872-29.3.1955).” Petermanns geographische Mitteilungen (Gotha) 99, no. 3 (1955): 212-213.
Trimborn, Hermann. “Leonhard Schultze- Jena (1872-1955). Geograph/ Sprachforscher.” In Marburger Gelehrte in der ersten Halfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Marburg: Elwert, 1977, pp. 479-500.