Franz Ludwig Carl Friedrich Passow (20 September 1786 – 11 March 1833) was a German
classical scholar and
lexicographer
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoreti ...
.
Biography
He was born at
Ludwigslust
Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district.
Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal re ...
in the
Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...
. In 1807 he was appointed to the professorship of
Greek literature
Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today.
Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving writte ...
at the
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
gymnasium by
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
, whose acquaintance he had made during a holiday tour; his lessons were attended by the young
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...
. In 1815 he became professor of ancient literature at the
University of Breslau
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, where he continued to live until his death. His endorsement of
gymnastic
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoul ...
exercises, in which he himself took part, caused a quarrel known as the ''Breslauer Turnfehde''
[ (“Breslau gymnastics feud”).
]
Works
Passow's great work was his ''Handwörterbuch der griechischen Sprache'' (1819–1824) ("Dictionary of the Greek Language"), originally a revision of Johann Gottlob Schneider
Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (18 January 1750 – 12 January 1822) was a German Empire, German classicist and natural history, naturalist.
Biography
Schneider was born at Collm in Saxony. In 1774, on the recommendation of Christian Gottlob ...
's lexicon, which appeared in the fourth edition (1831) as an independent work, without Schneider's name. Other works by Passow are ''Grundzüge der griech. und röm. Literatur und Kunstgeschichte'' (“Foundations of Greek and Roman Literature and History of Art”; 2nd ed., 1829) and editions of Persius
Aulus Persius Flaccus (; 4 December 3424 November 62 AD) was a Ancient Rome, Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan civilization, Etruscan origin. In his works, poems and satires, he shows a Stoicism, Stoic wisdom and a strong criticism for what he ...
, Longus
Longus, sometimes Longos ( el, Λόγγος), was the author of an ancient Greek novel or romance, ''Daphnis and Chloe''. Nothing is known of his life; it is assumed that he lived on the isle of Lesbos (setting for ''Daphnis and Chloe'') during ...
, Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
's ''Germania
Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...
'', Dionysius Periegetes
Dionysius Periegetes ( grc-gre, Διονύσιος ὁ Περιηγητής, literally Dionysius the Voyager or Traveller, often Latinized to ''Dionysius Periegeta''), also known as Dionysius of Alexandria or Dionysius the African,''Encyclopædia ...
, and Musaeus Musaeus, Musaios ( grc, Μουσαῖος) or Musäus may refer to:
Greek poets
* Musaeus of Athens, legendary polymath, considered by the Greeks to be one of their earliest poets (mentioned by Socrates in Plato's Apology)
* Musaeus of Ephesus, liv ...
. His miscellaneous writings were collected in ''Opuscula academica'' (“Minor academic works”; 1835) and ''Vermischte Schriften'' (“Miscellaneous writings”; 1843).[
Passow's Greek lexicon was the basis for the '' Greek-English Lexicon'' of Liddell and Scott.
]
Further reading
* L. and A. Wachler, ''Franz Passow's Leben und Briefe'' (“Franz Passow's Life and Letters”; 1839).
See also
*Comparison of Ancient Greek dictionaries The following tables compare Ancient Greek dictionaries, in any language.
Main lexicographical works
Translated editions of dictionaries
Etymological and other dictionaries
References
* Panagiotis Filos (2018) The Brill Dictionary of Ancien ...
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Passow, Franz
1786 births
1833 deaths
People from Ludwigslust
People from the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
German classical scholars
German lexicographers
Scholars of Ancient Greek
German male non-fiction writers
19th-century lexicographers