Johann Jakob Breitinger (1 March 1701 in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

– 14 December 1776) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Life

Breitinger 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 ...

and

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

and first earned recognition from 1730 through a new edition of the

Septuaginta The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...

. From 1731 he worked as Professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and later of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

in the gymnasium in Zürich. Breitinger was however best known for his collaborations with his friend

Johann Jakob Bodmer Johann Jakob Bodmer (19 July 16982 January 1783) was a Swiss author, academic, critic and poet. Life Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters. In 1 ...

. In their joint work it cannot always to be distinguished, from whom most of the suggestions came. The main part of the historical collection ''Thesaurus Historicae Helveticae'' (1735) may be attributed to Breitinger. Breitinger's principal work ''Critische Dichtkunst'' (1740) was a rejection of the traditional poetic principle of imitation of nature for the benefit of the creative imagination; it had a big influence on German literary theory and the burgeoning

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

cult. In this context was also the literary-historically significant dispute of Bodmer and Breitinger with

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...

Works

* ''Kritische Abhandlung von der Natur, den Absichten und dem Gebrauche der Gleichnisse'', 1740 * ''Critische Dichtkunst'', 1740 * ''Verteidigung der schweizerischen Muse Herrn D. A. Hallers'', 1744

External links

* * *
Kurzbiografie von Johann Jakob Breitinger

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breitinger, Johann Jakob 1701 births 1776 deaths Swiss literary critics Swiss male writers Writers from Zürich

Life

Works

Further reading

External links