George Psalmanazar

Japanese: サルマナザー（英語表記）George Psalmanazar

Around 1679-1763
A literary fraud born in France. His real name is unknown. After receiving a theological education, he served in the Dutch and German armies in his youth, and appeared in London (1703) claiming to be a Taiwanese, based on what he had heard about the Far East. He published a book called "A Journal of Taiwan" (1704) in which he described the scenery, flora and fauna of a fictitious Taiwanese language, and attracted a great deal of attention. He also published a more elaborate book called "Dialogue between the Japanese and the Formosans" (1707), but his fraud was soon discovered and his popularity waned. In his later years, he joined the religious world, reformed, and wrote his autobiography, "Memoirs of a Man Known by the Name of George Salmanazer, by Himself" (1764).

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

1679ころ‐1763
フランス生れの文学的いかさま師。実名は不明。神学教育を受けた後，青年時代にオランダ，ドイツの軍隊に勤務し，そこで聞きかじった極東事情をもとに，台湾人と称してロンドンに登場(1703)。口から出まかせの偽造台湾語をあやつって，架空の台湾の風物や動植物の博物学的記述を《台湾誌》(1704)にまとめて一躍注目を浴びた。さらに手のこんだ《日本人と台湾人との間の対話》(1707)も出版したが，やがていかさまが発覚して人気は落，晩年は宗教界に入って改心し，自伝《彼自身によるジョージ･サルマナザーの名で周知の男の回想録》(1764)を書いた。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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