Hermann Gundert (Stuttgart, 4 February 1814 – 25 April 1893 in Calw, Germany) was a German missionary, scholar, and linguist, as well as the maternal grandfather of German novelist and Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse. Gundert is chiefly known for his contributions as an Indologist, and compiled a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam (1859), in which he developed and constricted the grammar spoken by the Malayalis, nowadays; a Malayalam-English dictionary (1872), and contributed to work on Bible translations into Malayalam. He worked primarily at Tellicherry on the Malabar coast, in present day Kerala, India. Gundert also contributed to the fields of history, geography and astronomy. Early years Hermann Gundert was born to Ludwig Gundert and Christiana Enslin, and was the couple's third child. His father was the secretary of the Bible Society, and started a missionary magazine in 1823, which gave the young Gundert his first experiences in printing and publishing. At the age of five Hermann entered Latin school in Stuttgart, joined the "Lower Seminary" at Maulbronn in 1827 and later entered the "higher seminary" – the Protestant Stift – at the University of Tübingen. In 1835 he obtained a doctoral degree in philology from Tübingen and successfully completed his theological studies. In the course of his education Gundert mastered Hebrew, Latin, English, and French at a young age. Journey to India and marriage Having been engaged as private tutor in Calcutta, India, he prepared for this job in England. In April 1836 he left Bristol with the party of his employer. While traveling on the ship he concentrated on learning Bengali, Hindustani and Telugu and taught these languages to his fellow passengers. Instead of Calcutta the party reached Madras (Chennai) in July 1836 and settled there. Gundert immediately started learning Tamil. Soon he was giving a duty in Tirunelveli, and after some time in Chittoor (in nowadays Andhra Pradesh). There he married Julie Dubois in July 1838. She originated from French-speaking Switzerland and had come to India in the same party. After marriage, the two left for Tirunelveli, and on the way they were invited to join the Basel Mission in Mangalore. They accepted, and en route Gundert left Tamil drawing ups with a printer in Nagercoil. In Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) Hermann Gundert had an audience with His Highness Sree Swathi Thirunal Maharaja, the ruler of Travancore. Most probably it was here he heard Malayalam for the first time. In