Heinrich Zimmer

Heinrich Robert Zimmer (1890-1943) was an Indologist & historian of South Asian art. He began his career studying Sanskrit & linguistics at the Univ. of Berlin where he graduated in 1913. Between 1920-24 he lectured at the Univ. of Greifswald, moving to Heidelberg to fill the Chair of Indian Philology. In 1938 he was dismissed by the Nazis. He emigrated to England where between 1939-40 he taught at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1942 he moved to NY to accept a Visiting Lecturer position in Philosophy at Columbia Univ. One of his students during this time period was Joseph Campbell. He died there, of pneumonia, in 1943. His method was to examine religious images using their sacred significance as a key to their psychic transformation. His use of (Indian) philosophy & religious history to interpret art was at odds with traditional scholarship. His vast knowledge of Hindu mythology & philosophy (particularly Puranic & Tantric works) gave him insights into the art, insights that were appreciated by Campbell among others. Campbell edited many of Zimmer's writings after his death. The psychiatrist C,G, Jung also developed a long-standing relationship with Zimmer, & edited a volume of Zimmer's entitled Der Weg zum Selbst (the two men 1st met in 1932, after which Zimmer, along with Richard Wilhelm, became one of the few male friends of Jung). Zimmer is credited by many for the popularizing of South Asian art in the West.