Alois Musil and the Oriental studies fellowships in the 1920s

Abstract

Professor Alois Musil, Orientalist, Arabist, theologist, traveller, and writer of popular novels, is well known as an explorer of the Middle East, discoverer of Amra castle, and as a founding father of the Oriental Institute in Prague. According to the recent research of his correspondence, an incredible network of contacts, with scholars settled in high positions in learned societies, politicians, and state officials, was found. Alois Musil was not only a receiver of donations and grants but also asked his ‘pen friends’ to donate money or arrange a suitable job for his colleagues and students. In my study, I would like to focus on (not only) Musil’s role in the creation of academic positions for Orientalists as well as on the other possibilities that enabled Orientalists to continue in the job they dreamed about during their university studies.