Franz Ernst Heinrich Spitzner (October 31, 1787 – July 2, 1841) was a German

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and

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 specialized in Homeric studies. He was born in

Trebitz Trebitz is a village and a former municipality in Wittenberg district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Bad Schmiedeberg. Geography and transportation Trebitz lies about southeast of Wittenberg and about from ...

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 ...

. He studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

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

at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, where he was student of

Christian Lobeck Christian August Lobeck (; 5 June 1781 – 25 August 1860) was a German classical scholar. Lobeck was born at Naumburg, in the Electorate of Saxony. After studying at the universities of Jena and Leipzig, he became ''Privatdozent'' at the Uni ...

(1781–1860). In 1811 he became conrector at the Lyceum at

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 ...

, where two years later he was appointed

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 ...

. In 1820 he relocated to the Gymnasium at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

, and in 1824 returned to his former position at the Wittenberg Lyceum.

Published works

Spitzner's work on Greek prosody was translated into English and published in 1831 a
"Elements of Greek Prosody"
He was an editor of Köppen's "''Erklärende Anmerkungen zu Homers Ilias''" (Explanatory notes on Homer's

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

). Other noted works by Spitzner are: * ''Observationes criticae in Apollonii Rhodii Argonautica'', 1810. * ''De versu graecorum heroico maxime Homerico'', 1816 (with Friedrich Traugott Friedemann). * ''Geschichte des Gymnasiums und der Schulanstalten zu Wittenberg'', (History of gymnasiums and school institutions in Wittenberg), 1830. * ''Observationes criticae et grammatica in Quinti Smyrnaei Posthomerica'', 1837.Google Search
published works by Spitzner.

References

Wikisource
@

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

1787 births 1841 deaths People from Bad Schmiedeberg 19th-century German educators 19th-century philologists German philologists Heads of schools in Germany {{Germany-academic-bio-stub