Christianus Cornelius Uhlenbeck (18 October 1866 â 12 August 1951) was a Dutch linguist and anthropologist with a wide variety of research interests. His published work included books and articles on Germanic and Balto-Slavic languages, Sanskrit, Basque, and the Blackfoot language of North American Indians. He served as a lecturer at Leiden University.
Christianus Cornelius Uhlenbeck was born in Voorburg, Netherlands, on 18 October 1866, the son of an ethnic German couple, Julie () and Peter Frederik Uhlenbeck, a Dutch naval officer. Following Peter's retirement from the navy in 1861, the family moved to Voorburg where Peter was the . Shortly after Christianus's birth, the family moved to Haarlem. The last name was originally , signifying the family's previous ownership of property near Velbert in modern-day Germany some generations back. On 23 July 1891, Uhlenbeck married Wilhelmina Maria (), who later was his partner in his anthropological work.
In 1904 Uhlenbeck became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In the summer of 1911, Uhlenbeck visited the Blackfoot Indian reservation in Montana to conduct field work. He was accompanied by his wife, whose diary was later incorporated into their book about this expedition.