Jan Knappert (January 14, 1927, Heemstede – May 30, 2005, Hilversum, Netherlands) was a well-known expert on the Swahili language.
Knappert was Lecturer of Bantu Languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), specializing in Swahili traditional and religious literature.
[4] He wrote extensively about the manuscripts he collected and deposited in the SOAS Archives.
At SOAS, he worked with the great Africanists Malcolm Guthrie, A. N. Tucker, B. W. Andrzejewski, Gordon Innes, and Ronald Snoxall.
In addition to the study of Swahili, Dr Knappert also holds a degree in Sanskrit with Indian history, Hinduism and Buddhism, a degree in Semitic languages with Hebrew, Arabic and Islam, and a Master in Austronesian studies, with Malay, Tagalog, Hawaiian and Malagasy.