Johann Gottfried Flügel (22 November 1788 – 24 June 1855) was a German

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

Biography

He was born at Barby, near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. He started his career as a merchant's clerk. In 1810, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he engaged in business, diplomatic and official occupations. He made a special study of the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, and returning to Germany in 1819, was in 1824 appointed lector of the English language in the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. In 1838 he became American consul, and subsequently representative and correspondent of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and several other leading American literary and scientific institutions. In 1853, he was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. He died at

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

on 24 June 1855.

Works

The fame of Flügel rests chiefly on the ''Vollständige englisch-deutsche und deutsch-englische Wörterbuch'', first published in two volumes (Leipzig) in 1830, which has had an extensive circulation not only in Germany but in England and America. In this work he was assisted by J. Sporschil, and a new and enlarged edition, edited by his son Felix Flügel (1820–1904), was published at Brunswick (1890–1892). Another edition, in two volumes, edited by Prof. Immanuel Schmidt and S. Tanger, appeared (Brunswick, London & New York) in 1906. Among his other works are: *''Vollständige engl. Sprachlehre'' (1824–1826) *''Triglotte, oder kaufmännisches Wörterbuch in drei Sprachen, Deutsch, Englisch und Französisch'' (1836–1840) *''Kleines Kaufmännisches Handwörterbuch in drei Sprachen'' (1840) *''Praktisches Handbuch der engl. Handelscorrespondenz'' (1827, 9th edition 1873) All these have passed through several editions. In addition, Flügel also published in the English language: ''A series of Commercial Letters'' (Leipzig, 1822), a 9th edition of which appeared in 1874 under the title ''Practical Mercantile Correspondence'' and a ''Practical Dictionary of the English and German Languages'' (2 volumes, Hamburg and Leipzig, 1847–1852; 15th edition, Leipzig, 1891). The last was continued and re-edited by his son Felix. A very valuable study of the life and works of Flügel is in: Brüning, Eberhard: Das Konsulat der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika zu Leipzig. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Konsuls Dr. J

hann Hann may refer to: People * Adam Hann-Byrd (born 1982), American actor * Allie Hann-McCurdy (born 1987), Canadian ice dancer * Chris Hann (born 1953), British social anthropologist * David Hann (born 1952), American politician * Della Hann, Am ...

G ttfriedFlügel (1839–1855). Berlin: Akademie Verlag 1994 (Sitzungsberichte der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Bd. 134, H. 1).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flugel, Johann Gottfried 1788 births 1855 deaths German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German lexicographers People from the Duchy of Magdeburg Linguists from the Kingdom of Prussia 19th-century German linguists Prussian emigrants to the United States Members of the American Philosophical Society