Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/413

 N.W. Frontier, 1851–2; Indian mutiny, 1857–9 : Brevet-Major : C.B., 1877 : Maj-General.

SOLVYNS, FRANCOIS BALTHAZAR (1760–1824)

Artist : born at Antwerp, 1760 : showed genius at 12 : drew sea-pieces : patronized by the Arch-duchess Maria Christina till her death : accompanied Sir Home Popham in a voyage to the East : made charts of the coasts of the Red Sea : visited India and thoroughly studied the country : present at the siege of Seringapatam : after 15 years of labour, in which he was assisted by Sir W. Jones, he returned home and brought out, "to delineate the people of Hindustan in all their customs and usages, both of their public and their private life," his great work Les Hindous, 1807–12, dedicated to the French Institute : Captain of the Port of Antwerp till his death there, Oct. 10, 1824.

SOMERSET, SIR HENRY (1794–1862)

Born Dec. 30, 1794 : son of Lord Charles Somerset and grandson of fifth Duke of Beaufort : entered the Army, 1811 : in the Peninsula, 1813–4 : in the Netherlands in 1815, in the 18th Hussars : at Walcheren : A.D.C. to his uncle. Lord R. E. Somerset : saw service at the Cape of Good Hope in the Kafir war with his regt., the Cape Mounted Rifles : K.C.H. and C.B. in 1834 : Maj-General in the Kafir war of 1853, and K.C.B. after it : C. in C. in Bombay, 1855–60 : Lt-General : Colonel of the 25th regt. : died Feb. 15, 1862.

SORABJI, CORNELIA (1866–)

Fifth daughter of Rev. Sorabji Khar-sedji, a Missionary of the Church Missionary Society at Poona, who married a Hindu convert to Christianity : born at Nasik, 1866 : highly educated : taught in the Victoria High School, Poona, opened by her mother : matriculated in the Bombay University : entered, as a student, the Dekkan College at Poona : was head student of the College in the B.A. degree examination of the Bombay University, 1887 : gained, 1888, a Fellowship in the Gujarat College at Ahmadabad : lectured on English Literature and Languages : acted as Professor of English in the College : resigned : went to England : resided, as a Scholar, at Somerville Hall, Oxford, 1888 : studied law.

SORENSEN, SOREN (1848–1902)

Born 1848 at Danstrup in Denmark : at the University his principal study was Philology, with Sanskrit as a help towards it : after taking his degree, became a schoolmaster, but resigned this work for the sake of his Oriental studies : Doctor of Philology, 1833 : gained the gold medal of the Danish Academy of Sciences by his paper on The Position of Sanskrit in the General Development of Languages in India : published The Position of the Mahabharata in Indian Literature : appointed Lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, 1899 : elected Member of the Academy of Sciences, 1900 : May, 1902, appointed Professor of Indian Philology at Copenhagen, but died Dec. 1902. The study of the Mahabharata was the chief work of his life : he lived to complete his Index to the Names in the Mahabharata written in English, though not to see it published. Part I appeared in 1904. It is a work of the highest importance, not only as an aid towards the publication of a final critical text of the Mahabharata, but also for any student of Indian antiquity. Sorensen concentrated all his energies on one great work, and is therefore less known than he deserves to be.

SOUTER, SIR FRANK H. ( ? –1888)

Son of Captain Souter of the 44th regt., who was a prisoner in Afghanistan, 1842 : served as a volunteer against the rebels in the Nizam's dominions, 1850 : appointed Superintendent of Police at Dharwar, 1854 : in the mutiny of 1857, captured the Nurgoond Mahratta Chiefs for which he received a sword of honour : suppressed Bhil brigands in the N, Dekkan, 1859 : killed Bhagoji Naik, the notorious Bhil outlaw : recommended for the Victoria Cross : Commissioner of Police in Bombay, 1864–88 : C.S.I. in 1868 : knighted by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales at Bombay, 1875 : C.I.E. in 1886 : Member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation from 1872 and of the Town Council : died at the Nilgiris, June 5, 1888 : a Souter Memorial Fund was raised.