Heinrich Zimmer was born in in Greifswald, Germany in 1890 and died in New York City in 1943. He was an Indologist and South Asian historian of art. Zimmer began his career studying Sanskrit and linguistics at the University of Berlin where he graduated in 1913. Between 1920-24 he lectured at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Griefswald, moving to Heidelberg to fill the Chair of Indian Philology. In 1938 he was dismissed by the Nazis, emigrating to London where, between 1939-40 he taught at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1942 he moved to New York to accept a Visiting Lecturer position in Philosphy at Columbia University where he died the following year.

Zimmer's method was to examine religious images, using their sacred significance as a key to their psychic transformation. His use of (Indian) philosophy and religious history to interpret art was at odds with traditional scholarship. His vast knowledge of Hindu mythology and philosophy (particularly Puranic and Tantric works) gave him insights into the art, insights appreciated by Joseph Campbell among others. Campbell edited Zimmer's writings after his death. The psychiatrist Carl Jung also developed a long-standing relationship with Zimmer. He is credited by many for the popularizing of South Asian art in the West.

Works

The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil H.R. Zimmer; J. Campbell, ed. Philosophies of India. H.R. Zimmer; J. Campbell, ed.

Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization Edited by Joseph Campbell. New York: Pantheon Books,1946.

The Art of Indian Asia, its Mythology and Transformations Completed and edited by Joseph Campbell. New York: Pantheon,1955;

Heinrich Zimmer : Coming Into His Own Edited by Margaret H Case. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994; Linda, Mary.

Kunstform und Yoga im Indischen Kultbild Berlin: Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, 1926; English:

Artistic Form and Yoga in the Sacred Images of India trans Gerald Chapple and James B. Lawson in collaboration with J. Michael McKnight. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984;

References

Duke University Library