Antonius Aemilius

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Antonius Aemilius

Antonius Aemilius (also: Emilius, Melis ; * December 20, 1589 in Aachen ; † November 12, 1660 in Utrecht ) was a German historian and philosopher who lived in the Netherlands.

Life

Antonius Aemilius was the son of Jan Melis, a merchant and later mayor of Hasselt , and his wife Elisabeth Houbraeken. His parents had moved from Germany to Dordrecht for religious reasons . Initially he attended the Latin school in his place of birth and then received his basic education in Dordrecht. He enrolled at the University of Leiden on September 10, 1607 as a theology student. Here Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), Dominicus Baudius (1561–1613) and Rudolph Snellius were his teachers. The latter particularly excited him for the Greek language. Then he traveled to other universities.

So he matriculated on March 30, 1611 at the University of Heidelberg , where he stayed with David Paraeus and attended the Bibliotheca Palatina . He traveled via Strasbourg to Saumur , where he met Philippe Du Plessis-Mornay . After visiting Angers , he spent four months in Montauban and Toulouse , met Jacob Gothofredus and Johannes Deodatus in Geneva and returned home via Basel , Cologne and Leuven .

In 1615 he became rector of the Latin school in Dordrecht and founded a library there. Since in 1619 the Utrecht Latin School Rector Bernard Zwaerdecroon refused to put his signature under the Dordrecht Articles , he was installed in its place on October 25, 1619. After he had helped the Utrecht Latin School to a great reputation, he resigned his rectorate due to disputes in 1630 and established himself privately in Delft .

In 1631 he was considered for the chair of Gerardus Johannes Vossius in Leiden, so that it was decided in Utrecht to hand over the rectorate of the Latin school to him again. The curators of the Utrecht grammar school therefore appointed him Professor of History and Politics on June 17, 1634, which office he assumed with the speech De usu lectionis historicae . When the grammar school was elevated to the University of Utrecht in 1636 , he resigned his rectorate at the Latin school in 1639 in order to devote himself to the academic teaching post. By dealing with Isaac Beeckman and later with his colleague Henri Reneri (1593-1639) Aemilius had developed a fondness for the philosophy of René Descartes , with whom he came into contact.

But he was not only active in the field of philosophy, he also had a great deal of knowledge in the oriental languages. In his capacity as a Utrecht university lecturer, he also took part in the organizational tasks of the academy and was rector of the Alma Mater in 1644/45 and 1659/60 . Aemilius, who was plagued by kidney disease for twenty years, got additional complaints after a visit to Aachen, from which he died six years later. In 1651 his Latin speeches and poems were published.

From his marriage in Utrecht in 1623 to Agneta, daughter of the Utrecht preacher Johann van Langen and his wife Maria Iselmuyden, there are four children. These are the sons Johannes Aemilius and Janus Aemilius and the daughters Elisabeth († February 28, 1648 in Utrecht) and Gertrud.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ other information Aken, which means Aachen when translated from Dutch into German
personal data
SURNAME Aemilius, Antonius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Emilius; Melis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and philosopher in the Netherlands
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1589
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen (Aken)
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1660
Place of death Utrecht