Professor Georg Rosen (originally Ballhorn), of Danish extraction, born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, on 24 September 1820, was a diplomat, Orientalist, linguist and author. He knew Sanskrit, Armenian, Turkish, Arabic and Persian. Accompanied Alexander von Humboldt on an linguistic-ethnographical expedition to 1843 to Tiflis and the Caucasus. Interpreter at the Prussian embassy in Constantinople 1844, Prussian consul in Jerusalem (1852-67). He collected Bulgarian and Croat folksongs during his time in Belgrade as Consul-General for the North German Confederation. Author of 'History of Turkey, 1826-1856' and "Türkje bilürmisiniz?" (Do you understand Turkish?), (1891). Died Detmold, 29 October 1891. Source: Pelger 2005, pp. 51–2 He and his half-brother Friedrich August Rosen (a friend of Felix Mendelssohn and Wilhelm von Humboldt) were the founders of modern Oriental studies in Germany. Pelger, Gregor (2005). "Rosen, Georg Friedrich Wilhelm". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). (Online edition). pp. 51–52.
