Eduard Norden (21 September 1868 – 13 July 1941) 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 ...

and historian of religion. When Norden received an honorary doctorate from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

James Bryant Conant James Bryant Conant (March 26, 1893 – February 11, 1978) was an American chemist, a transformative President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany. Conant obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard in 1916 ...

referred to him as "the most famous Latinist in the world".Andrew R. Dyck
review
of Wilt Aden Schröder, ''Der Altertumswissenschaftler Eduard Norden (1868-1941)''. ''

Bryn Mawr Classical Review ''Bryn Mawr Classical Review'' (''BMCR'') is an open access journal founded in 1990. It publishes reviews of current scholarly work in the field of classical studies including classical archaeology.Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

, the son of a Jewish physician. Baptized in the

Evangelical Church Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

aged 17, he studied classics 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 ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. After serving as assistant at

Strassburg 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 Eur ...

, in 1893 he became professor at

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...

. In Greiswald he married Marie Schultze, the daughter of the city's mayor. After having published ''Die Antike Kunstprosa'' in 1899 he was appointed to the

University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. The book on Vergil's Aeneid (1903) made him famous. At age 38 he was appointed to the chair of Latin in Berlin, the most prestigious position for a classicist in Germany. In 1928, at age 60, he was appointed rector of the University of Berlin.Bernhard Kytzler: ''Norden, Eduard'' in: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie 19 (1999)'', S. 341. During winter 1934/35 a new law in Germany set the age for retirement from professorship from before 68 to 65. Because Norden had already by 1933 reached the age of 65, he was given emeritus status in February 1935. Because of the antisemitic

Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of th ...

of 1935 already in December 1935 Norden lost the right to hold lectures at the University of Berlin. Reacting to pressure by the Ministry of Education in 1938 the Berlin Academy of Science urged Norden to quit his membership there.Eckart Mensching: ''Nugae zur Philologie-Geschichte V. Eduard Norden zum 50. Todestag.'' Universitätsbibliothek der Technischen Universität Berlin Abt. Publikationen, Berlin 1992, . p. 131 The 1938 Jewish tax forced him to sell his house and portions of his library, and he lost his right to use university facilities. Friends persuaded him to move to Zurich, where he died on 13 July 1941. Norden described

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, ...

(1834–1905) und

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 ...

(1837–1908) as his most important teachers. Today the best known of Norden's scientific works is ''Antike Kunstprosa'' (1898), which centers on problems of rhetoric. Another important work is his commentary to Vergil's ''Aeneis (book 6)'', which focuses on religious problems.

Major works

* ''Die antike Kunstprosa vom VI. Jahrhundert v. Chr. bis in die Zeit der Renaissance'' (1898). * ''P. Vergilius Maro Aeneis Buch VI'' (1903, 1916, 1927). * ''Agnostos Theos; Untersuchungen zur Formengeschichte religiöser Rede'' (1913). * ''Ennius und Vergilius; Kriegsbilder aus Roms grosser Zeit'' (1915). * ''Die germanische Urgeschichte in Tacitus Germania'' (1921). * ''Die Geburt des Kindes; Geschichte einer religiösen Idee'' (1924). * ''Alt-Germanien; völker- und namengeschichtliche Untersuchungen'' (1934). * ''Aus altrömischen Priesterbüchern'' (1939).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norden, Eduard 1868 births 1941 deaths German philologists German historians of religion German classical scholars German male non-fiction writers Converts to Protestantism from Judaism German people of Jewish descent Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Bonn alumni University of Strasbourg faculty University of Breslau faculty University of Greifswald faculty Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences German Latinists

Major works

Further reading

References