Lifetime
Born: 8.8.1904Passed away: 25.3.1978
About
Ludwig Alsdorf was an authority on Jainism. He travelled extensively in India and promoted a better understanding of modern India and her problems in Germany.
Ludwig Alsdorf was born on 8.8.1904 in Laufersweiler in the Rhineland. He studied Indology, comparative linguistics, Persian and Arabic in Heidelberg and Hamburg. Alsdorf obtained a doctorate in 1928 in Hamburg for the thesis Der Kumarapalapratibodha, Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis des Apabhramsa und der Erzaehlungsliteratur der Jainas ("The Kumarapalapratibodha. A contribution to the knowledge of Apabhramsha and the narrative literature of the Jains").
Alsdorf came to India about twelve times. He visited Sri Lanka in 1978. An insect bite turned infectious and caused his death on 25.3.1978 shortly after his return to Germany.