![Theodor Gomperz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Theodor_Gomperz.jpg)
Theodor Gomperz (March 29, 1832August 29, 1912),
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
classical scholar
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 and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, was born at
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
(Brünn).
Biography
Gomperz studied at Brno and at
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
under
Hermann Bonitz
Hermann Bonitz (29 July 181425 July 1888), German scholar, was born at Langensalza in Prussian Saxony.
Having studied at the University of Leipzig under Johann Gottfried Jakob Hermann, G. Hermann and at University of Berlin, Berlin under Philipp ...
. Graduating at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
in 1867 he became ''
privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
'', and subsequently a professor of
classical philology
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 and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
(1873). In 1882 he was elected a full member of the
Vienna Academy of Sciences. He received the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
''
honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'' from the
University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...
, and Doctor of Literature from the universities of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, and became correspondent for several learned societies.
Gomperz resigned his professorship at Vienna in order to devote all his energy to his magnum opus ''Griechische Denker'' ("Greek Thinkers"), which first appeared in 1893.
He died in
Baden bei Wien
Baden (German for " Baths"; Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden District in the state of Lower Austria. Loc ...
.
Works
*''Demosthenes der Staatsmann'' (1864)
*''Philodemi de ira liber'' (1864)
*''Traumdeutung und Zauberei'' (1866)
*''Herculanische Studien'' (1865–1866)
*''Beiträge zur Kritik und Erklärung griech. Schriftsteller'' (7 vols, 1875–1900)
*''Neue Bruchstücke Epikurs'' (1876)
*''Die Bruchstücke der griech. Tragiker und Cobets neueste kritische Manier'' (1878)
*''Herodoteische Studien'' (1883)
*''Ein bisher unbekannies griech. Schriftsystem'' (1884)
*''Zu Philodems Büchern von der Musik'' (1885)
*''Über den Abschluß des herodoteischen Geschichtswerkes'' (1886)
*''Platonische Aufsätze'' (3 vols, 1887–1905)
*''Zu Heraklits Lehre und den Überresten seines Werkes'' (1887)
*''Zu Aristoteles' Poëtik'' (2 parts, 1888–1896)
*''Über die Charaktere Theophrasts'' (1888)
*''Nachlese zu den Bruchstücken der griechischen Tragiker'' (1888)
*''Die Apologie der Heilkunst'' (1890)
*''Philodem und die ästhetischen Schriften der herculanischen Bibliothek'' (1891)
*''Die Schrift vom Staatswesen der Athener'' (1891)
*''Die jüngst entdeckten Überreste einer den platonischen Phädon enthaltenden Papyrusrolle'' (1892)
*''Aus der Hekale des Kallimachos'' (1893)
*''Griechische Denker. Eine Geschichte der antiken Philosophie'' (Three volumes, 1896, 1902, 1909)
*''Essays und Erinnerungen'' (1905)
*''Die Apologie der Heilkunst. Eine griechische Sophistenrede des 5. vorchristlichen Jahrhunderts'' (1910)
*''Hellenika. Eine Auswahl philologischer und philosophiegeschichtlicher kleiner Schriften'' (1912)
Gomperz supervised a translation of
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
's complete works (12 vols., Leipzig, 1869–1880), and wrote a life (Vienna, 1889) of Mill. His ''Griechische Denker: Geschichte der antiken Philosophie'' (vols. i. and ii., Leipzig, 1893 and 1902) was translated into English by L. Magnus (vol. i., 1901).
Volumes ii & iii were translated into English by G. G. Berry.
Lewis Campbell gives an overview of Gomperz as writer and scholar in ''
The Hibbert Journal
''The Hibbert Journal'' was a large, quarterly magazine in softback book format, issued since 1902 by the Hibbert Trust, best described by its subtitle: ''A Quarterly Review of Religion, Theology and Philosophy''. In the early years it was publish ...
'', 5:2, January 1907, pp. 439–448.
References
External links
Greek Thinkers Vol. IGreek Thinkers Vol. IIGreek Thinkers Vol. III
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomperz, Theodor
1832 births
1912 deaths
Burials at Döbling Cemetery
Writers from Brno
People from the Margraviate of Moravia
Austrian Jews
Austrian classical scholars
20th-century Austrian philosophers
Jewish philosophers
Austrian scholars of ancient Greek philosophy
Classical scholars of the University of Vienna
Moravian Jews
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
19th-century Austrian philosophers