Ernestine Christine Reiske (2 April 1735 – 27 July 1798) was a German translator of classical texts. She was a scholar of Greek literature, and oriental languages and literature.

Biography

Ernestine Christine Reiske was born as Ernestine Christine Müller on 2 April 1735 at Kemberg in

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon language, Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the Ri ...

district,

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

, Germany. She didn't receive any formal education. As her family couldn't afford the education of all the children, the sons were given the opportunity to learn. But her elder brother acted as her teacher. In 1764 she married

Johann Jakob Reiske Johann Jakob Reiske (Neo-Latin: Johannes Jacobus Reiskius; December 25, 1716 – August 14, 1774) was a German scholar and physician. He was a pioneer in the fields of Arabic and Byzantine philology as well as Islamic numismatics. Biography Reisk ...

(1716 – 1774), the distinguished classicist and orientalist, who was the professor of Arabic studies at Leipzig University. He gave her Greek lessons. She became a competent classical scholar in her own right. After her husband's death, she completed several of his works. In 1783 she published his autobiography the ''Lebensbeschreibung''. She also published two volumes of her own, which mainly contained the works by Libanius,

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

, Epictetus, and others. These include ''Hellas'' (1778) and ''Zur Moral'' (1782). She was 63 years old when she died in Kemberg, Wittenberg on 27 July 1798.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiske, Ernestine Christine 1735 births 1798 deaths Scholars of Greek language German scholars German orientalists