William Witte

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1907–1992) was a 20th-century scholar of the German language and German literature, working in Britain. In 1959 he postulated that Schiller's "

Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...

" was specifically rewritten in 1803 following influence on Schiller by the works of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

Life

He was born in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

in Slovakia (then known as Pressburg) on 18 February 1907, the son of William G. J. Witte. His family travelled widely, and he was educated in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

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 ...

and then attended the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. After a year at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

he ended in Breslau University (then in Germany, now Wrocław in Poland) where he gained a doctorate in economics in 1930. In 1931 he left mainland Europe to go to

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

as an assistant lecturer in German. In 1936 he transferred to

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

in the same role for one year before returning to Aberdeen, with a PhD from Edinburgh. As a non-German German-speaker he survived the rigours of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and began to climb in position. He was created Professor of German in 1951. Most of his years in Aberdeen he lived on Don Street close to the university. The

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (DLitt) in 1966. In 1978 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Thomas Malcolm Knox Sir Thomas Malcolm Knox (28 November 1900 – 6 April 1980) was a British philosopher who served as Principal of St Andrews University from 1953–1966 and Vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1975–1978. Biography Knox w ...

Fraser Noble Sir Thomas Alexander Fraser Noble (29 April 1918 – 21 August 2003) was a Scottish academic. He was former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester and then Principal of the University of Aberdeen. Early life He was born in Cromdale in ...

, Robert Cross and

Anthony Elliot Ritchie Anthony Elliot Ritchie FRSE FRCPE LLD (30 March 1915–14 September 1997) was a 20th-century Scottish physiologist and educator. Life Ritchie was born at 20 Upper Gray Street, Edinburgh on 30 March 1915, the only son of Jessie Jane Elliot and ...

. He died on 22 September 1992. He is memorialised in the

Snow Kirk The Snow Kirk in Old Aberdeen was a small but important church in Scottish history. It is now ruinous but its site remains as a small graveyard within the bounds of Aberdeen University. History This tiny church was named after Santa Maria Maggio ...

Old Aberdeen Old Aberdeen is part of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It ret ...

Publications

*''Modern German Prose Usage'' (1937) *''Schiller'' (1949) *''Schiller and Burns'' (1959) *''German Romance and German Romanticism'' (1963, republished 1975) *''German Life and Letters'' (1977)

Other awards and positions

*Gold Medal from the Goethe Institute of Munich in 1971 *Cross of an Officer of Merit (First Class) from the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

in 1974 *Queen's Jubilee Medal in 1977 *Chairman of the National Conference of University Teachers of German in Great Britain in Ireland in both 1970 and 1971 *Vice Chairman of the Society of British German Studies from 1982

Family

In 1937 he married Edith Mary Stenhouse Melvin, a linguist, and eldest daughter of the headmaster of

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is derived fr ...

Secondary School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witte, William 1907 births 1992 deaths Writers from Bratislava Academics of the University of Aberdeen Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Slovak emigrants to the United Kingdom