Henri Weil (August 27, 1818 – November 5, 1909) was a French

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 ...

Biography

Born to a Jewish family in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, he was educated at the universities of

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-Ru ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. He went to France, and continued his studies at Paris, graduating as Docteur ès lettres in 1845, and becoming "agrégé" in 1848. Appointed professor of ancient literature at the University of Besançon, he was in 1872 elected dean of the faculty. In 1876 he was called to Paris to fill a vacancy as instructor at the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

and to assume charge of the

École Pratique des Hautes Études École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, both of which positions he resigned in 1891. In 1866 he was elected corresponding member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigr ...

, becoming full member in 1882 as the successor of

Édouard Dulaurier Jean Paul Louis François Édouard Leuge-Dulaurier (29 January 1807 – 21 December 1881) was a French Orientalist, Armenian studies scholar and Egyptologist. Dulaurier was born in Toulouse. He succeeded Paul Émile Levaillant de Florival, on t ...

. In 1887 he received the cross of the Legion of Honor. He died in Paris. Weil edited the poems of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

, eight tragedies of

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...

, and the orations of

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...

. Among his works may be mentioned: ''De l'Ordre des Mots dans les Langues Anciennes Comparées aux Langues Modernes'' (Paris, 1844; 3d ed. 1879); ''De Tragædiarum Græcarum cum Rebus Publicis Conjunctione'' (with L. Beuloew, Paris and Berlin, 1845); ''Théorie Générale de l'Accentuation Latine'' (ib. 1855); and ''Etudes sur le Drame Antique'' (ib. 1897).

Bibliography

* Curinier, Dict. Nat. i. 142 * La Grande Encyclopédie

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weil, Henri 1818 births 1868 deaths German philologists French philologists Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres