Gudmund Schütte (17 January 1872– 12 July 1958) was a Danish philologist, historian and writer who specialized in Germanic studies.

Biography

Gudmund Schütte was born at Eskjær, Salling, Denmark on 17 January 1872, the son of landowner Theodor Schütte (1835–1915) and Thilia Augusta Marie Cathrine Petersen (1837–96). His paternal grandfather, the landowner August Theodor Schütte, was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

immigrant from

Perleberg Perleberg (; North Brandenburgisch dialect, Margravian: ''Perlberg'') is the capital of the district of Prignitz, located in the northwest of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg. The town received German town law, city rights in 1239 and as of ...

, Germany. In addition to Eskjær, his father also owned the Bygholm estate, and the Sankt Andrä estate in Austria. Schütte enrolled at Horsens Statsskole in 1889. While studying

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, Schütte won a university gold medal for a 1897 dissertation on

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

. The same year, Schütte established the Society for Germanic Philology (Danish: ''Selskabet for germansk filologi''). He earned an MA in

philology in 1898, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1907 with the dissertation ''Oldsagn om Godtjod''. From 1909 to 1913, Schütte lectured at universities in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

. In 1915, Schütte inheritated the estate of his father. With his financial independence secured, Schütte was free to pursue his scientific pursuits without being affiliated with any university or spending time on lecturing. In subsequent years, Schütte wrote a number of important works on the early

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and history of the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

. His

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

, ''The Gothonic Nations'' (1929–1933), was published in English in two volumes by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. He also wrote a number of books and articles on Danish history intended for a popular audience. In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Schütte was an active participant in public debate. He was strongly critical of Pan-German aggression towards

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, and advocated Danish reclamation of Danish territory annexed by Germany in the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

. Despite opposition from German scholars, Schütte confirmed conclusively that the

Jutlandic dialect Jutlandic, or Jutish (Danish: ''jysk''; ), is the western variety of Danish, spoken on the peninsula of Jutland in Denmark. Generally, Jutlandic can be divided into two different dialects: general or Northern Jutlandic (; further divided into ...

is a dialect of Danish. He was forceful advocate not only for the rights of the Danish minority in Germany, but also for several other

ethnic minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

and

stateless nation A stateless nation is an ethnicity, ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own sovereign state.''Dictionary Of Public Administration'', U.C. Mandal, Sarup & Sons 2007, 505 p. Use of the term implies that such ethnic groups have the rig ...

s in Europe. Schütte was made a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

in 1928, and received Dannebrogsmændenes Hæderstegn in 1942. Schütte died in Grinderslev, Denmark on 12 July 1958.

Personal life

Schütte married Elsa Margrethe Sidonie Magdalene Johanna Pichler (1880–1953), in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on 21 January 1909. She was

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n, the daughter of architect Hans P. Pichler (1830–1908) and Sidonia Moritsch (1854–1936). The two were introduced to each other in Prague while Schütte was visiting the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

Germanist Arnošt Kraus. Gudmund and Johanna had a close relationship, and her death in 1953 was a heavy blow.

Selected

* * * * * * * * *

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schutte, Gudmund 1872 births 1958 deaths Academic staff of Aarhus University 20th-century Danish historians Danish people of German descent 20th-century Danish philologists Danish writers Germanic studies scholars Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Old Norse studies scholars People from Skive Municipality Writers on Germanic paganism University of Copenhagen alumni