1912.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. cv 
Maulavi Aga Muhammad Kazim Shirazi on behalf of the 
Hon. Dr. Suhrawardy read the following obituary notice of 
the late Mr. R. F. Azoo:-- 
hen on the 6th September, 1911, I read in this very hall 
the obituary notice of Harinath De, little did I know that 
within two short months [ should have once more to lament 
the loss of another great scholar, of a valued colleague, and a 
personal friend. Death seems to pursue with cruel persistence 
that galaxy of brilliant scholars from whose labours the world 
expected so much light. Indeed, a strange fatality seems to 
have overtaken, of late, some of the most distinguished scho- 
lars associated with the University of Calcutta. Pischel, Bloch, 
Harinat e, and now, Azoo—Readers and Lecturers to the 
University—have all departed before the fulfilment of the work 
undertaken for its benefit. 
Rizqullah Fathullah Azzun, better known as R. F. Azoo 
was born in Baghdad of Roman Catholic parents of Chaldean 
extraction on October 20, 1868. He early displayed a remark- 
able taste for Arabic literature, and always occupied the first 
place in the examinations of the local madrasah, in which he > 
had been placed to study Arabic literature and philology under 
the famous Arabic scholar Haidari Zade ‘Abdullah Effendi, and 
other renowned masters. He came out to India in 1888, and 
was appointed at the early age of nineteen Arabic Instructor to 
the Board of Examiners, Fort William. An enthusiastic stu- 
dent, a conscientious teacher, he at once became a pillar of 
strength to the Board, which has done more than any other in- 
stitution in India to bring the East nearer the West, by interpret- 
ing Eastern thought and Eastern ideas to the civil and military 
officers charged with the difficult task of administering an 
Oriental country, and dealing with Oriental peoples. 
Besides Arabic, of which he was master. Azoo knew Syriac, 
Hebrew, Chaldean, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Latin, modern 
Greek, German, French and English. 
From the moment of his arrival in India till the time of 
his death he continued to hold the post of Arabic Instructor to 
the Board of Examiners, and led the uneventful life of a true 
scholar. In June 1911, the Calcutta University honoured itself 
by appointing Azoo as the Arabic lecturer to the University. 
For years Azoo had been examiner to the Universities of Cal- 
cutta and the Punjab. ; 
Of a retiring disposition, modest and unobtrusive to a 
degree, Azoo never cared to advertise his scholarship. But he 
: og ? 
ferred to him for solution even by Arabists abroad. To Azoo’s 
profound and accurate scholarship I am indebted for the 
