Rudolf Kassel (11 May 1926 – 26 February 2020) was a German classical philologist. He was a professor at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

from 1963 to 1975 and subsequently the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

from 1975 until his retirement in 1991.

Career

Kassel was born on 11 May 1926 in

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) (; ) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinians, Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, aft ...

. In 1951 he obtained his doctorate at the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. In 1956 Kassel obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

with a thesis on Greek and Roman

consolation Consolation, consolement, and solace are terms referring to psychological comfort given to someone who has suffered severe, upsetting loss, such as the death of a loved one. It is typically provided by expressing shared regret for that loss and ...

literature. At the University of Würzburg he also worked as a private teacher. In 1962 Kassel moved to the United Kingdom where he was Nellie Wallace Lecturer at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. One year later he returned to Germany and was appointed professor at the

. In 1975 Kassel moved to the

where he became professor of Ancient Greek philology at the Institut für Altertumskunde. He retired in 1991. Kassel died on 26 February 2020, aged 93. Amongst his academic output Kassel published work on ''

Poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneu ...

'' and ''

Rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

'' by

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

Ancient Greek comedy Ancient Greek comedy () was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece; the others being tragedy and the satyr play. Greek comedy was distinguished from tragedy by its happy endings and use of comically ex ...

and

Menander Menander (; ; c. 342/341 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek scriptwriter and the best-known representative of Athenian Ancient Greek comedy, New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the Cit ...

. Together with Colin François Lloyd Austin he published an edition of the fragments of ancient Greek comedy in eight volumes under the title ''Poetae Comici Graeci''. He was considered an expert on

papyrology Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

and

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

and served as co-editor of the ''

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik The (commonly abbreviated ZPE; "Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy") is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to papyrology and epigraphy. It has been described as "the world's leading and certainly most prolific ...

''.

Honours and awards

Kassel was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

in 1973. He became a member of the

North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts The North Rhine-Westphalia Academy for Sciences, Humanities and the Arts (''Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste''), shortly known as NRW is a learned society in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia. With more than 28 ...

in 1977. He was elected foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 1991. Kassel was elected corresponding member of the Academy of Athens in 1993. In 2003 he received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Kassel was an honorary member of the

Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic studies, Hellenic Studies, known as the Hellenic Society, was founded in 1879 to advance the study of Greek language, Greek literature, literature, Greek history, history, Greek art, art and Classical ar ...

and received honorary doctorates from the University of Oxford and the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kassel, Rudolf 1926 births 2020 deaths Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Corresponding Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin German classical philologists Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies People from Frankenthal Academic staff of the University of Cologne University of Würzburg alumni