Jonas Otter

Jonas (Jean) Otter (October 1707 in Kristianstad, Sweden – September 1748 in Paris) was a Swedish traveler in the Ottoman and Persian Empires, known for his book Voyage en Turquie et en Perse, avec une Relation des Expeditions de Tahmas-Kouli-Khan (1748),[1] based on his ten years in the Middle East.

Otter studied languages, physics, and theology at Lund University under Andreas Rydelius, the Lutheran bishop of Lund, but interrupted his studies and left for Stockholm.

In 1728, he converted to Catholicism, and left for Rouen, where he studied at the seminary until 1731, and learned English, Spanish, and Italian.

In January 1734, the Count of Maurepas sent him to Constantinople, where he stayed with the French Minister, Villeneuve, to study Arabic and Turkish.

By the time he returned to Paris in 1744, he was very knowledgeable about Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, and Turkish, and he worked as a translator at the Bibliothèque du roi, translating many historical manuscripts in those languages.