Andreas Helwig (Helwich, Helvigius) (1572–1643) was a German classical scholar and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. His ''Origenes dictionum germanicarum'' (1622) was a pioneer

etymological Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...

work of the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

Life

Helwig was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

from 1611 to 1614, then professor of poetry from 1614 to 1616. Subsequently he taught at the Gymnasium at

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

.David Brady, ''The Contribution of British Writers Between 1560 and 1830 to the Interpretation of Revelation 13.16-18'' (1983), pp. 84-6.

Works

In 1602 he published a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

etymological dictionary. In his period at Berlin, he published ''Antichristus Romanus'',''Antichristus Romanus, in proprio suo nomine, numerum illum Apocalypticum (DCLXVI) continente proditus'' (Wittenberg, 1612) an anti-papal work including the numerical formula identifying ''

Vicarius Filii Dei ''Vicarius Filii Dei'' (Latin: ''Vicar'' or ''Representative of the Son of God'') is a phrase first used in the forged medieval ''Donation of Constantine'' to refer to Saint Peter, who is regarded as the first Pope by the Catholic Church. Origins ...

'', an alleged title of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, reduced to its

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

and summed to

666 666 may refer to: * 666 (number) * 666 BC, a year * AD 666, a year * The number of the beast, a reference in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament Places * 666 Desdemona, a minor planet in the asteroid belt * U.S. Route 666, an America ...

. Brady mentions a theory of

Johann Christoph Wolf Johann Christoph Wolf (born at Wernigerode, February 21 1683; died at Hamburg, July 25 1739) was a German Christian Hebraist, polyhistor, and collector of books. He studied at Wittenberg, and traveled in Holland and England in the intere ...

that Helwig had already published this observation in an anonymous work of 1600. Such cryptograms were not uncommon; Brady comments on (from

Richard Bernard Richard Bernard (1568–1641) was an English Puritan clergyman and writer. Life Bernard was born in Epworth and received his education at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he matriculated in 1592, obtained his BA in 1595, and an MA in 1598. ...

's ''Key of Knowledge'' of 1617) the phrase ''Generalis Dei Vicarius in Terris'' likewise treated, and

Thomas Beard Thomas Beard (died 1632) was an English clergyman and theologian, of Puritan views. He is known as the author of ''The Theatre of Gods Judgements'', and the schoolmaster of Oliver Cromwell at Huntingdon. Life He was, it is believed, a native of ...

’s 1625 permutation ''Vicarius Dei Generalis in Terris'', perhaps influenced by Helwig. This became ''Vicarius Dei Generalis in Terris'' with

Hezekiah Holland Hezekiah Holland may refer to *Hezekiah Holland (minister), 17th-century English clergyman *Hezekiah Russel Holland (born 1936), United States federal judge {{hndis, Holland, Hezekiah ...

in 1650. But interest in Helwig’s formulation has outlasted the others.

Notes

External links

Entries of Andreas Helwig
in

Rostock Matrikelportal The Rostock Matrikelportal (matriculation portal) disseminates about 186,000 individual-level datasets drawn from the student registers of the University of Rostock from its establishment in 1419 to today. Each entry is faithfully transcribed and li ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helwig, Andreas 1572 births 1643 deaths Linguists from Germany People from Friedland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern