Georg v.d. Gabelentz (1840-1893) is regarded as the most prominent linguist of the Chinese language in the 19th century, whose Chinese Grammar from 1881 is still considered a standard work today. He was the son of the high-ranking civil servant and castle lord Hans Conon v.d. Gabelentz (1807-1874), who, as a polyglot autodidact, ingeniously familiarized himself with more than two hundred foreign languages and authored numerous publications on the subject. After studying law and public administration and several years of work in courts and administration, Georg v.d. Gabelentz ultimately chose to follow the career path outlined by his father, whom he always regarded as his true mentor, and served as a professor of East Asian languages and general linguistics from the age of 38.