Papers of Anton Tien

These papers consist of a letter from Rev Anton Tien, in Constantinople, to Edwin Norris to send him a copy of a letter sent by Sheikh Ahmed of Mecca to some of his principal co-religionists to be distributed to all "Musselmans", as Tien thought the letter would be of interest to Norris. The copy of Sheikh Ahmed's letter is in Arabic with an English translation.

Anton Tien was born in Beirut, Syria, in 1834. He studied theology in Rome for several years but then converted to Anglicanism. He came to England with letters of introduction to William Gladstone who advised him to go to theological college. Therefore he entered St Augustine's College, Canterbury. During the Crimean War he was Oriental Secretary on Lord Baglan's staff. In 1860 he travelled to Constantinople as a priest where his knowledge of Middle Eastern languages enabled him to tutor both at missions schools and privately.

Tien acted as interpreter between a visiting Omani dignitary and representatives of Queen Victoria in 1886 and, in 1896, he was appointed Professor of Turkish at King's College, London, a position he held until 1913. He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. He died in 1920 in Sussex.

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The material was acquired from Anton Tien.

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.

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The letter was written by Anton Tien and sent to Edwin Norris, Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society.