15 Facts About Michael Witzel

Michael Witzel was born on July 18,1943 and is a German-American philologist, comparative mythologist and Indologist.

Michael Witzel has significantly researched a number of Indian sacred texts, particularly the Vedas.

Michael Witzel was born July 18,1943, in Schwiebus, Germany.

Michael Witzel has taught at Tubingen, Leiden, and at Harvard, and has been the Wales Research professor since 2022.

Michael Witzel has had visiting appointments at Kyoto, Paris, and Tokyo.

Michael Witzel is editor-in-chief of the Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies and the Harvard Oriental Series.

Michael Witzel has been president of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory since 1999, as well as of the International Association for Comparative Mythology since 2006.

Michael Witzel was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003 and was elected honorary member of the German Oriental Society in 2009.

Michael Witzel has begun, together with T Goto et al.

Michael Witzel aims at indicating the emergence of the Kuru Kingdom in the Delhi area, its seminal culture and its political dominance, as well as studying the origin of late Vedic polities and the first Indian empire in eastern North India.

Michael Witzel studied at length the various Vedic recensions and their importance for the geographical spread of Vedic culture across North India and beyond.

Michael Witzel has questioned the linguistic nature of the so-called Indus script.

Michael Witzel cites the presence of a large number of rare signs in Chinese and emphasizes that there is "little reason for sign repetition in short seal texts written in an early logo-syllabic script".

In 2005, Michael Witzel engaged other academics and activist groups to oppose changes to California state school history textbooks proposed by US-based Hindu groups, mainly "the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh -linked organisations" The Vedic Foundation and Hindu Education Foundation.

Michael Witzel was appointed to an expert panel set up to review the changes, which was opposed by the HEF and the VF, claiming "that Michael Witzel knew little about Hinduism and ancient Indian history," and accusing him of "leftist leanings" and being biased against Hinduism, allegations he rejects.