Robert Caesar Childers (1838-1876) im Ceylon Civil Service

Childers, Robert Caesar (1838—1876), English Oriental scholar, son of the Rev. Charles Childers, English chaplain at Nice, was born in 1838. In 1860 he received an appointment in the civil service of Ceylon, which he retained until 1864, when he was compelled to return to England owing to ill-health. He had 'studied Päli during his residence in Ceylon, under Unnanse Yatramulle, a learned Buddhist for whom he cherished a life-long respect, and he had gained an insight into the Sinhalese character and ways of thought. In 1869 he published the first Pāḷi text ever printed in England, and began to prepare a Pāḷi dictionary, the first volume of which was published in 1872, and the second and concluding volume in 1875. In the following year it was awarded the Volney prize by the Institute of France, as being the most important philological work of the year. He was a frequent contributor to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, in which he published the Mahã-parinibbdna Sutta, the Pãli text giving the account of the last days of Buddha's life. In 1872 he was appointed sub-librarian at the India Office, and in the following year he became the first professor of Pãli and Buddhist literature at University College, London. He died in London on the 25th of July 1876." — Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911

Childers, Robert Caesar (1838-1876): A dictionary of the Pāḷi language. — London: Trubner, 1875. -- 624 S. -- [Issued in two parts, 1872-75]