Oriental Institute, Woking
Other name | Oriental University Institute |
---|---|
Active | 1884 | –1899
Founder | Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner |
Academic affiliation | University of the Punjab |
Principal | Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner |
Location | , , |
The Oriental Institute was a British educational institution in Woking, Surrey, established by Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner. It was also occasionally called the Oriental University Institute.
History
The site of the
It was hoped the Institute would achieve full university status, and by the 1890s it was awarding degrees accredited by the
Leitner fell ill in 1898, and died of pneumonia in 1899.[6] Following his death, his son, Henry, took over the running of the institute,[7] but it closed around a decade later and the vast collection was sold on. Had it succeeded, the project might have had a profound effect upon the town, it is realistic to suppose that by 1914 there would have been an Oriental University at Woking, making the town a cultural centre of importance, and giving it an identity and status that it has tended to lack. But this remained hypothetical, and the Institute is now all but forgotten.[2]
Oriental Road in Woking is named after the institute.[8]
In literature
The Institute is mentioned on a number of occasions, as the 'Oriental College' in the early chapters of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. In the novel the narrator describes seeing the College, and its mosque, wrecked by the Martian heat-ray.[9]
See also
References
- ^ "Gottlieb Leitner". The Open University. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ a b c "Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner". Woking Muslim Mission. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- ^ "Shah Jahan Mosque, Woking". Exploring Surrey's Past. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ Historic England. "Shah Jehan Mosque, Oriental Road (Grade I) (1264438)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.100747. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51109. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "The Oriental Institute, Woking". The Tuesday Mirror and Reigate Borough Advertiser. Vol. 3, no. 131. 11 April 1899. p. 2.
- ^ Watson, Paul (3 June 1988). "Grave news : Aliens have landed". Woking Informer. Vol. 7, no. 22. pp. S2–S3.
- ^ The War of the Worlds, Chapter IX