Friedrich Leo (July 10, 1851 – January 15, 1914) was a German
classical philologist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and ot ...
born in Regenwalde, in the then-
province of Pomerania (present-day
Resko, Poland).
Academic career
From 1868 he was a student at the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
, and following military duty in the
Franco-Prussian War, he continued his education at 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 had as instructors
Franz Bücheler
Franz Bücheler (3 June 18373 May 1908) was a German classical scholar, was born in Rheinberg, and educated at Bonn, where he was a student of Friedrich Ritschl (1806–1876).
Biography
In 1856 Bücheler graduated from the University of Bonn wit ...
and
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, ...
. At
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
his fellow students included
Georg Kaibel
Georg Kaibel (30 October 1849 – 12 October 1901) was a German classical philologist born in Lübeck. He was a leading authority of Greek epigraphy and epigrammatics
He studied classical philology at the Universities of Göttingen and Bonn. ...
,
Friedrich von Duhn,
Georg Dehio
Georg Gottfried Julius Dehio (22 November 1850 in Reval (now Tallinn), Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire – 21 March 1932 in Tübingen), was a Baltic German art historian.
In 1900, Dehio started the "''Handbuch der deutschen Kunstgesch ...
and
Hans Delbrück
Hans Gottlieb Leopold Delbrück (; 11 November 1848 – 14 July 1929) was a German historian. Delbrück was one of the first modern military historians, basing his method of research on the critical examination of ancient sources, using auxiliary ...
. After graduation in 1873 he toured countries of the Mediterranean extensively.
In 1881 he became an associate professor at the
University of Kiel
Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...
, followed by professorships at the Universities of
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
(1883),
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
(1888) and
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
(1889). At the latter institution he was university
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 ...
(1903–4), and was a colleague of
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature ...
. In 1889 he became a member of the
Göttingen Academy of Sciences
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The or ...
.
Written works
Much of Leo's earlier work concerned research of
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
's tragedies and the writings of
Venantius Fortunatus
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus ( 530 600/609 AD; french: Venance Fortunat), known as Saint Venantius Fortunatus (, ), was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a bishop of the Early Church who has been venerate ...
. Later his focus dealt largely with works of Roman playwright
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...
and early
Roman literature
Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...
in general. A few of his better known publications are the following:
* ''Die griechisch-römische Biographie nach ihrer literarischen Form'', 1901
* ''Plautinische Forschungen'' (Plautine research), 1912
* ''Geschichte der römischen Literatur'' (History of Roman literature), 1913
Family
In 1883 Leo married Cécile Hensel (1858–1928), daughter of the landowner and entrepreneur Sebastian Hensel, granddaughter of the composer
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel (as well as Fanny Mendelssohn He ...
and the painter
Wilhelm Hensel
Wilhelm Hensel (6 July 1794 – 26 November 1861) was a German painter, brother of Luise Hensel, husband to Fanny Mendelssohn, and brother-in-law to Felix Mendelssohn.
Life and career
Wilhelm Hensel was born on 6 July 1794 in the German tow ...
and descendant of the entrepreneur and philosopher
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...
and sister of the philosopher
Paul Hensel
Paul Hugo Wilhelm Hensel (17 May 1860, Groß-Barthen near Königsberg – 11 November 1930, Erlangen) was a German philosopher.
Biography
Hensel was born in Groß-Barten near Königsberg, Prussia. He was the son of the landowner and entrep ...
and the mathematician
Kurt Hensel
Kurt Wilhelm Sebastian Hensel (29 December 1861 – 1 June 1941) was a German mathematician born in Königsberg.
Life and career
Hensel was born in Königsberg, East Prussia (today Kaliningrad, Russia), the son of Julia (née von Adelson) and lan ...
. Both Leo and his wife came from families who were assimilated German Jews, having converted to Lutheranism in the early 19th century. The couple had three children: Erika Brecht (1887–1949), the writer
Ulrich Leo (1890–1964) and the theologian
Paul Leo
Paul Leo (9 January 1893 in Göttingen – 10 February 1958 in Dubuque, Iowa) was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian. Of Jewish heritage, he advocated for endangered Jews during the Nazi era. After a brief imprisonment in Buchenwald conc ...
(1893–1958).
References
* ''This article is based on a translation of text from an 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:
*
NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographietranslated biography.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Friedrich
1851 births
1914 deaths
People from Łobez County
People from the Province of Pomerania
German classical philologists
German philologists
German people of Jewish descent
University of Göttingen faculty
University of Rostock faculty
University of Strasbourg faculty
Mendelssohn family
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy