F. B. J. Kuiper

F. B. J. Kuiper
Born	Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper (1907-07-07)7 July 1907 The Hague, Netherlands
Died	14 November 2003(2003-11-14) (aged 96) Zeist, Netherlands
Resting place	Rhijnhof cemetery [nl] (Leiden, Netherlands)
Spouse(s)	Eduarda Johanna de Jong ​ ​ (m. 1934)​ Hanna Nieboer ​ (after 1967)​
Children	5
Academic background
Alma mater	Leiden University
Thesis	Die indogermanischen Nasalpräsentia ('The Indo-European Nasal Present', 1934)
Doctoral advisor	Frederik Muller Jzn [nl; de]
Academic work
Discipline	Indo-European studies Indology
Doctoral students	Robert S. P. Beekes E. J. Furnée [Wikidata]
Notable students	J. W. de Jong
Main interests	Sanskrit laryngeal theory historical Indian mythology Munda languages
Military career
Allegiance	Netherlands
Branch	Royal Netherlands Army
Years of service	c. 1928–1948
Rank	First lieutenant

Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus "Frans" Kuiper (/ˈkaɪpər/ ^ⓘ KY-pər,^[1] Dutch: [ˈkœypər] ^ⓘ; 7 July 1907 – 14 November 2003) was a Dutch linguist and Indologist. Between 1939 and 1972, he was professor of Sanskrit at Leiden University, later serving as chair of the Balto-Slavic languages. Aside from Sanskrit, his research focused largely on laryngeal theory and historical Indian mythology, though he also contributed significantly to research in other fields such as the Munda languages.

Kuiper was recognized for his numerous contributions. His most notable contributions concerned reflexes of the nasal present in Sanskrit inherited from its Proto-Indo-European ancestor, the declension systems of Proto-Indo-European which validated an earlier theory proposed by Holger Pedersen, and the influence of Paleo-European substrates on the Indo-European languages, though he considered one of his Indian mythology works to be his most important scientific contribution. His analysis of vowel length in Sanskrit led to the discovery of a more widespread process now known as Kuiper's law.

Largely mentored by the Dutch Slavic scholar Nicolaas van Wijk, Kuiper funded his graduate education with service in the Royal Netherlands Army's military reserve as an artilleryman. As a condition of his scholarship, he served a stint as a classics teacher at the lyceum in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia) until he was appointed to the professorship in Leiden. In 1957, he co-founded the academic journal Indo-Iranian Journal with his former student J. W. de Jong and served as its editor-in-chief until 1979, though he remained a part of the editorial process until at least the 1990s. Along with Jan Gonda, Kuiper has been credited with helping improve the standing of Dutch Indology internationally.