[KS] Afanasii Ivanovich Seridin-Sabatin

[Frank Hoffmann]

Hi:

Just for the record, a few small comments (I know 
there are others here on the list who know far 
more about this topic, both Moellendorff and 
Seredin-Sabatin).

Moellendorff's full and correct name was:  Paul 
Georg von Moellendorff (1848-1901) -- with two at 
the end -- all good Germans have family names 
with at least two double consonants :)
It is also correct that "oe" is an alternative 
for an o-umlaut. But in case of Moellendorff, and 
most native German Asia specialist got that 
'wrong' as well, this family, throughout the 19th 
century, always spelled their family name as "von 
Moellendorff" (thus the 1930 book title, with 
"oe" and not "ö," and the Prussian diplomatic 
documents of the time indicate the same, 
according to Prof. Ingeborg Göthel who worked 
with them in the 1980s). [Then again, how family 
names are written in Europe is a very fluid and 
constantly changing thing.] Also, Rosalie von 
Moellendorff, the author of his biography -- that 
was his wife, not his daughter.

The biography's correct title is: P.G. von 
Moellendorff: Ein Lebensbild (Leipzig: Otto 
Harrassowitz, 1930)
Original cover: http://openlibrary.org/b/OL20421284M/P.G._von_Moellendorff
There are several books and conference volumes 
about him, also in Korean, and plenty of articles 
and some books in German (about his role in 
Korea), e.g. by Walter Leifer (1988) or Eun-Jeung 
Lee (2008). Professor Yur-bok Lee also published 
a scholarly biography in English (West Goes East, 
1988), a book that is widely available.

Kirk Larsen wrote:
>If memory serves, the "von" was certainly 
>claimed by Moellendorf, but perhaps undeservedly 
>(if one adheres to prevailing standards of 
>aristocracy of the day).

No, that is certainly not so, Kirk. (You must mix that up with me.)


Best,
Frank Hoffmann


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