Tischendorf, Konstantin von (1815–1874)

German biblical scholar, professor of theology at the University of Leipzig from 1845, and a specialist in New Testament criticism. He travelled widely in the Middle East in pursuit of his studies; his most important discovery was the Sinaitic Codex, a 4th-century manuscript of the Bible he found at a monastery on the Sinai peninsula. He described his journeys in Reise in den Orient/Journey to the East, 1846, and Aus dem Heiligen Lande/From the Holy Land, 1862,

Tischendorf was born at Legenfeld in Saxony. He published editions of the Sinaitic Codex in 1862–63, supplemented later by editions of other biblical manuscripts. The original Sinaitic Codex is now in the British Museum in London.