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 Biographie
translated 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