# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/robert-zaehner
# Generated: 2026-08-13T04:43:51.023Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/robert-zaehner"
name: "Robert Zaehner"
slug: "robert-zaehner"
description: "Robert Charles Zaehner was a British academic whose field of study was Eastern religions. He understood the original languages of various sacred texts, including Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic. At Oxford University, his first writings were on the Zoroastrian religion and its texts. Starting in World War II, he served as an intelligence officer in Iran. Appointed Spalding Professor at Oxford in 1952, his books addressed such subjects as mystical experience, Hinduism, comparative religion, Christianity and other religions, and ethics. He translated the Bhagavad Gita, providing an extensive commentary based on Hindu tradition and sources. His last books addressed similar popular culture issues, leading to his talks on the BBC. He published under the name R. C. Zaehner."
tagline: "British spy and academic on Eastern religions (1913–1974)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Internationaal_Theologisch_Congres_toekomst_van_de_religie%2C_religie_van_de_toeko%2C_Bestanddeelnr_925-4729.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United Kingdom"
  isoCode: "GB"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1913-04-08"
deathDate: "1974-11-24"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           47.46
  momentum:             0.7967479674796749
  historical:           10.31447466666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%B2_%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B1"
    title: "روبرت تشارلز زاينر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%AA_%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%B2_%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%8A%D9%87%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B1"
    title: "روبيرت تشارلز زايهنير"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A1%CF%8C%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5%CF%81%CF%84_%CE%A4%CF%83%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%BB%CF%82_%CE%96%CE%B1%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%81"
    title: "Ρόμπερτ Τσαρλς Ζαίνερ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA_%DA%86%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D8%B2_%D8%B2%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%B1"
    title: "رابرت چارلز زینر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Charles_Zaehner"
    title: "Robert Charles Zaehner"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q959943"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump