Manfred Fuhrmann (23 June 1925 – 12 January 2005) was a professor for classical Latin philology and one of the most eminent German philologists.

Life

Fuhrmann was born on 23 June 1925 in Hiddesen (near

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...

). He started his studies in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. While Fuhrmann wanted to study music, he gave up this plan in favour 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 ...

and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

, whereby the classical philology was decisive for him. 1953 he obtained his doctorate in classical philology in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, followed by his habilitation ibidem. 1962 Fuhrmann accepted a chair 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 ...

, 1966 one at the

University of Konstanz The University of Konstanz (german: Universität Konstanz) is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its main campus was opened on the Gießberg in 1972 after being founded in 1966. The university is Germany's ...

. Also, he was a member of the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (''academy of sciences of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

'') and of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1990. Furthermore, the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...

gave Fuhrmann an honorary doctorate in jurisprudence. He died on 12 January 2005.

Achievements

Fuhrmann is generally considered to be one of the most eminent German philologists. During his lifetime he has undoubtedly achieved a lot: Above all he has worked as a translator — having translated a huge amount of classical

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

texts into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: His probably most outstanding achievement was to translate all of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

's speeches. For this translation Fuhrmann received the Johann Heinrich Voß Prize in Translation from the

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstadt, ...

1990. Besides he has translated texts from other classical authors like Horace,

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

and

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

. In addition to his translations, Fuhrmann became well known for his criticism of education. In his book ''Bildung. Europas kulturelle Identität'' (''Education. The cultural identity of Europe'') he criticised that natural sciences are much too important in the most current educational systems, whereas classical philology, history and music do not receive enough recognition.

Literature

*Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Der europäische Bildungskanon des bürgerlichen Zeitalters''. Insel. 2004. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Rom in der Spätantike: Porträt einer Epoche''. Artemis & Winkler. 1998. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Cicero: Und die römische Republik''. Patmos. 2005. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Bildung: Europas kulturelle Identität''. Reclam. 2002. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Die antike Rhetorik. Eine Einführung''. Artemis & Winkler. 2003. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Latein und Europa. Die fremd gewordenen Fundamente unserer Bildung''. Dumont Buchverlag. 2005. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Die antike Rhetorik''. Patmos. 2007. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Geschichte der römischen Literatur''. Reclam. 2005. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Cicero: Die catilinarischen Reden''. Artemis & Winkler. 1998. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Aristoteles: Poetik''. Reclam. 1994. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Platon: Apologie des Sokrates. Reclam. 1986. *Fuhrmann, Manfred: ''Cicero: Die Reden gegen Verres / In C. Verrem: Erste Verhandlung. Zweite Verhandlung, viertes Buch / Actio prima. Actio secunda, liber quartus''. Artemis & Winkler. 1999.

References

Sources

Rösler, Wolfgang. Poiss, Thomas: ''Zum Tod von Manfred Fuhrmann''. 2005.
* Der Spiegel
''Klüger werden mit: Manfred Fuhrmann: Der 77-jährige emeritierte Latinist über Bildung''. 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuhrmann, Manfred German classical philologists 1925 births 2005 deaths Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences