Alfred Körte (September 5, 1866 – September 6, 1946) was a German classical

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

who was a native of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He was a younger brother to

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Werner Körte (1853–1937) and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Gustav Körte Gustav Körte (8 February 1852 – 15 August 1917) was a German classical archaeologist. He was the brother of philologist Alfred Körte (1866–1946) and surgeon Werner Körte (1853–1937). Körte was born in Berlin. He studied classical philol ...

(1852-1917). In 1896 he married Frieda Gropius, the daughter of the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Martin Gropius Martin Carl Philipp Gropius (11 August 1824, Berlin – 13 December 1880) was a German architect.Wirth, Irmgard (1966).Gropius, Martin Carl Philipp. In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie''. Band 7. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. . p. 132-133 retriev ...

(1824–1880). In 1890 he earned his doctorate from the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, where he was a student of

Hermann Usener Hermann Karl Usener (23 October 1834 – 21 October 1905) was a German scholar in the fields of philology and comparative religion. Life Hermann Usener was born at Weilburg and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg, ...

(1834–1905). In 1899 he became a full professor at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

, and in 1903 was successor to

Erich Bethe Erich Julius Adolf Bethe (2 May 1863 – 19 October 1940) was a German classical philologist who was a native of Stettin. In 1887 he earned his doctorate from the University of Göttingen, later receiving his habilitation at Bonn in 1891. From 18 ...

(1863–1940) at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. Successively, he was a professor at the Universities of

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

(from 1906),

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

(from 1914) and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

(from 1917), where he remained until his retirement in 1934. Körte was a member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...

. Alfred Körte was a leading expert in the study of Greek comedies, being remembered for his editorial and translational work involving

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

fragments left by the

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Menander Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...

. He also specialized in the field of

Hellenistic poetry Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...

. In 1900 he assisted his brother, Gustav, with initial excavation of the ancient city of

Gordion Gordion ( Phrygian: ; el, Γόρδιον, translit=Górdion; tr, Gordion or ; la, Gordium) was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about southwest of Ankara (capital of Turkey), in the ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, subsequently being the co-author of ''Gordion: Ergebnisse der Ausgrabung im Jahre 1900'' (1904). Beginning in 1923, with philologist

Richard Heinze Richard Heinze (1867 – 1929) was a German classical philologist. He was a younger brother to politician Rudolf Heinze (1865–1928). Heinze was born on 11 August 1867 in Naumburg, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia. He studied classical ph ...

(1867–1929), he was publisher of the magazine "Hermes". He also contributed numerous articles to the " Pauly-Wissowa", a renowned German

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

of classical scholarship.

References

* This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article at the

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedia), ...

, whose sources include
biography of Alfred Körte
@ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie {{DEFAULTSORT:Korte, Alfred German classical philologists Writers from Berlin Scientists from Berlin Academic staff of the University of Basel Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Academic staff of Leipzig University Academic staff of the University of Giessen Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Archaeologists from Berlin 1866 births 1946 deaths German male writers Travelers in Asia Minor