Boris Wassiljewitsch Warnecke

Boris Vasilievich Warnecke ( Russian Борис Васильевич Варнеке ., Scientific transliteration Boris Vasil'evič Varneke ; born 22 ^jul. / 3. June  1874 ^greg. In Moscow , †  31 July 1944 in Kiev ) was a Russian classical philologist .

Life

Boris Warnecke was the illegitimate child of an actress. He played theater himself from the age of eight, later he also worked as an assistant director (until 1902). He also attended the 1st grammar school in Moscow. After graduation (1894) he studied Classical Philology and History at the University of Saint Petersburg , where he was particularly influenced by Tadeusz Stefan Zieliński . On his advice, Warnecke spent a few semesters at the universities of Göttingen and Leipzig .

After graduation, Warnecke taught Latin, Greek, German and French at the 5th grammar school in Saint Petersburg from 1899 to 1904; in addition, he held lectures at the university from 1901 and published studies on ancient theater history. In 1903 he obtained his master's degree , in 1904 he was promoted to Dr. phil. PhD . His teaching success and his scientific work brought him such recognition that on August 21, 1904 he was appointed to the chair of Classical Philology at the University of Kazan (initially as an associate professor). On June 20, 1906 he was appointed full professor.

Because his wife, who was born in Kiev, suffered from climatic chronic illnesses in Kazan, Warnecke tried to move to a milder place. On April 26, 1910 he was transferred to Odessa University , where he worked for many years. Even after the events of the Russian Revolution and the transformation of the university into an institute for popular education (1920), Warnecke remained in his chair. He attracted many students (including Mikhail Bakhtin ) and corresponded with scholars abroad (he was fluent in six foreign languages, including English, French, German and Italian). The German Archaeological Institute elected Warnecke as a corresponding member in 1926.

When Odessa fell under Romanian occupation (1941–1944) during the Second World War , Warnecke and his family were unable to flee. He continued his scientific work, also gave lectures at the Romanian university founded in 1942 and gave Italian courses. However, he refused to cooperate with the establishment of an institute for anti-communist research. Unlike most professors, he was not evacuated to Romania as the war progressed. He stayed in Odessa until the Red Army recaptured it on April 10, 1944. Warnecke continued his teaching until he was arrested on May 10 by the NKVD on charges of high treason and espionage for Italy. He died in Lukjanivska Prison in Kiev on July 31, 1944.

On November 29, 1955, Warnecke was rehabilitated by a Soviet court.

In his research, Warnecke dealt primarily with the ancient Greek and Roman theater. He published studies on various types of theater, on the political function of theatrical performances in ancient Rome and the activities of ancient actors. He also dealt with the history of Russian drama and the ancient terracottas . He has also written articles for foreign (German and Austrian) journals as well as for Paulys Realenzyklopädie der Klassisch Antiquities (RE).

Fonts

• Очерки из истории древнеримского театра . Saint Petersburg 1903 (Master's thesis)
• Политическая роль античного театра . Kazan 1904 (dissertation)
• Наблюдения над древнеримской комедией. К истории типов . Kazan 1905
• Женский вопрос на афинской сцене . Kazan 1905
• Новейшая литература о мимах . Kazan 1907
• Актеры древней Греции . Odessa 1919
• Античный театр . Kharkov 1929
• История античного театра . Moscow / Leningrad 1940

literature

• Ирина Владимировна Тункина: Б. В. Варнеке и его воспоминания об ученых In: Scripta antiqua. Вопросы древней истории, филологии, искусства и материальной культуры: Альманах . Volume 1, Moscow 2011, pp. 435–466 ( PDF file )

Web links

Wikisource: Boris Wassiljewitsch Warnecke  - sources and full texts

• Information on Boris Wassiljewitsch Warnecke in the Erik Amburger database
• Biographical article about Boris Wassiljewitsch Warnecke (Russian, with pictures)