HANXLEDEN, JOHANN ERNST. — Indologist, born in 1681 at Osterkappeln (Germany), died on 21 March 1732 at Palur (India).
He entered the Society of Jesus on 30 November 1699 and soon went to India by way of Asia Minor, Armenia, and Persia. Having arrived in Goa in December 1700, he studied Malayalam and Sanskrit with excellent results and composed dictionaries of these languages. Among the 14 works written by H. is also a Life of Jesus in Malayalam verse. Thus far none of his writings has been published, but some have been used, for example, by Fr. Paolino di S. Bartolomeo, a Carmelite.
BIBL.: Sommervogel, IV, cols. 80–82 (list of the writings); A. Huonder, Deutsche Jesuitenmissionäre des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Friburgo in Br. 1899 V. indice; L. Koch, Jesuiten-Lexikon, Paderborn 1934, col. 766. Giuseppe Wicki