Saturday, October 2, 2010

Richard Olaf Winstedt? a forgotten scholar

I do not remember having encountered the name of Richard Olaf Winstedt (1878-1966) before now. A scholar of Malay language and culture and Malayan history, he was an Oxonian (Magdalen, New College) and the first president (1928-31) of Raffles College, a predecessor of University of Malaya and NUS. He served in the Malayan Civil Service until his retirement.

A name that deserves to be better known in these parts of the world (Chersonesus Aurea).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He wrote the well known "The Malays: A Cultural History, and "Malaya and its History" Also a well known short Malay-English Dictionary.