Philipp von Zesen, also Filip Cösius or ''Caesius'' (originally Ph. Caesien, Filip Zesen, Filip von Zesen, in Latin Philippus Caesius à Fürstenau, Philippus Caesius à Zesen) (8 October 1619 O.S. – 13 November 1689 O.S.) was a German poet,

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

ist and writer. Some of his works are published under his pen name Ritterhold von Blauen.

Biography

Von Zesen was born in Priorau near Dessau. From 1639 to 1641 he studied

rhetorics Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate part ...

and poetry at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

. During the war years from 1642 to 1648 von Zesen lived in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

working as a translator. In 1648 he returned to his hometown of Priorau and was accepted to the

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

in 1649. From 1656 he worked in the Dutch Republic again, being a major contributor to

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as '' The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', ...

publishing company. When he married Maria Becker in 1672 he moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

where he spent the rest of his life.

Style

Although his purist language found many opponents, a number of the neologisms he coined are still in use in the German language today, co-existing with loanwords he sought to replace. Examples include :wikt:Abstand, "Abstand" for "Distanz" (''distance''), :wikt:Leidenschaft, "Leidenschaft" for "Passion" (''passion''), or :wikt:Rechtschreibung, "Rechtschreibung" for "Orthographie" (''orthography'').Note that the origin ''Rechtschreibung'' is older: * Etymology of ''Rechtschreibung'' a
DWDS.de
"Rechtschreibung f. [...] (2. Hälfte 16. Jh.)". Compare also for example: * ''Dictionarium: quod Gemmagemmarum vocant: nuper castigatum. In quo nihil eorum que in prioribus excusa sunt desiderantur'', 1518: "Orthographus. ei recht schriber." * ''Ein Teutscher Dictionarius, dz ist ein außleger schwerer, unbekanter Teutscher, Griechischer, Lateinischer, Hebraischer, Wälscher und Frantzösischer, auch andrer Nationen wörter, so mit der weil inn Teutsche sprach kommen seind, und offt mancherley irrung bringen [...] zu gutem publiciert: durch Simon Roten'', Augspurg, 1571: "Orthographei, Recht schreibung, also das ein jedes wort mit seinen zugehörigen bůchstaben geschriben werde, keiner zu vil oder zu wenig, das auch keiner für den andern gesetzt werde." Other more native words he promoted include: Angelpunkt (Pol), Anschrift (Adresse), Ausflug (Exkursion), Beifügung (Apposition), Beistrich (Komma), Besprechung (Rezension), Blutzeuge (Märtyrer), Bücherei (Bibliothek), Emporkömmling (Parvenü), Entwurf (Projekt), Farbgebung (Kolorit), Freistaat (Republik), Gesichtskreis (Horizont, Panorama), Glaubensbekenntnis (Credo), Gotteshaus (Tempel), Grundstein (Fundament), Kreislauf (Zirkulation), Letzter Wille (Testament), Mundart (Dialekt), Nachruf (Nekrolog), Sinngedicht (Epigramm), Sterblichkeit (Mortalität), Verfasser (Autor), Vollmacht (Plenipotenz), Wahlspruch (Devise), Weltall (Universum).

Selected works

* ''Melpomene'' (1638) * ''Deutscher Helicon'' (1640) * ''Himmlische Kleio'' (1641) * ''FrühlingsLust oder Lob-, Lust- und Liebeslieder'' (1642) * ''Poetischer Rosen-Wälder Vorschmack'' (1642), Pastoral * ''Hooch-Deutsche Spraachübrung'' (1643) * ''Liebesbeschreibung Lysanders und Kalisten'' (1644), translation of Vital d'Audiguier's ''Lysandre et Caliste'' * ''Die Adriatische Rosemund'' (1645) * ''Lustinne'' (1645) * ''Die afrikanische Sofonisbe'' (1646) * ''Kurze gründl. Anleitung zur Höflichkeit'' (1649) * ''Leo Belgicus'' (1656) * ''Coelum Astronomico-Poeticum'' (1662) * ''Beschreibung der Stadt Amsterdam'' (Description of Amsterdam) (1664) * ''Schöne Hamburgerin'' (1668) Songs * ''Assenat'' (1670) * ''Reiselieder'' (1677) * ''Simson'' (1679)

Footnotes

References

* Hugo Harbrecht: ''Philipp von Zesen als Sprachreiniger''. Karlsruhe in Baden: M. Gillardon, 1912 * Eberhard Lindhorst: ''Philipp von Zesen und der Roman der Spätantike. Ein Beitrag zu Theorie und Technik des barocken Romans''. Göttingen: Univ. Diss., 1955 (Neudruck 1997) * Hans Obermann: ''Studien über Philipp von Zesens Romane''. Göttingen: Univ. Diss., 1932 * Chrystèle Schielein: ''Philipp von Zesen: Orthographiereformer mit niederländischen Vorbildern?''. Erlangen: Univ. Diss., 2002 * Maximilian Bergengruen; Dieter Martin (Hg.): ''Philipp von Zesen. Wissen – Sprache – Literatur.'' Tübingen 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zesen, Philipp von 1619 births 1689 deaths People from Anhalt-Bitterfeld 17th-century German poets Imperial counts palatine German male poets 17th-century German male writers