Richard Otto Zöpffel (14 June 1843 – 7 January 1891) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

church historian Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

and

theologian 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 ...

born in Arensburg,

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(today Kuressaare,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

). 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 ...

at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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 ...

under Georg Waitz (1813-1886). In 1871 he published ''Die Papstwahlen und mit ihnen im nächsten Zusammenhange stehenden Ceremonien in ihrer Entwickelung vom 11. bis zum 14. Jahrhundert'' ("The papal elections ... in their development from the 11th to the 14th century"),Die Papstwahlen
HathiTrust Digital Library and based on this work, received his doctorate in Göttingen. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed associate professor of church history at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

, becoming a full professor in 1877. In 1887–88 he 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. With

Heinrich Julius Holtzmann Heinrich Holtzmann Heinrich Julius Holtzmann (7 May 1832 – 4 August 1910), German Protestant theologian, son of theologian Karl Julius Holtzmann (1804–1877), was born at Karlsruhe, where his father ultimately became prelate and counsellor to t ...

(1832–1910), he wrote the influential ''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirchenwesen'' (Glossary of Theology and Church affairs; first edition, 1882), and contributed many articles to the '' Realencyklopädie'' of

Herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. ...

, Plitt, and

Hauck Hauck is a Germans, German patronymic family name, derived from the Germanic given name and surname Hugo (name), Hugo, meaning "Bright in Mind and Spirit" or "intelligence".:fr:Albert Dauzat, ''Les noms et prénoms de France'', éditions Larousse, 1 ...

References

Wikisource, ADB Zöpffel, Richard Otto
1843 births 1891 deaths People from Kuressaare People from the Governorate of Livonia Baltic-German people German Christian theologians 19th-century German theologians German historians of religion German male non-fiction writers 19th-century male writers University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg {{Germany-theologian-stub