Carl Jakob Iken

Carl Jakob Ludwig Iken (born September 7, 1789 in Bremen , † April 23, 1841 in Florence ) was a German pioneer of neo-Greek studies .

biography

Iken was the son of Senator Jacob Ludwig Iken (1758-1811) and the professor's daughter Regine Agnes Runge (1761-1816). His grandfather was the Mayor of Bremen Justin Friedrich Wilhelm Iken (1726-1805) and his brothers Justin Friedrich Wilhelm Iken (1783-1806) and Senator Johann Georg Iken (1786-1850).

He lived as a private scholar in Bremen. He was the first to try to bring modern Greek literature and culture closer to his contemporaries. He was in correspondence with Goethe and Schopenhauer . In addition to his neo-Greek publications, he also edited a collection of Persian fairy tales.

Fonts (selection)

• Hellenion. About culture, history and literature of the modern Greeks. Leipzig 1822
• From the old and new Hellas. 1823
• Leukothea. A collection of letters from a native Greek on the state, literature and poetry of modern Greece. 2 vols., Leipzig 1825.
• Eunomia. Representations and fragments of modern Greek poetry and prose. In originals and translations. Borrowed from English and French works and from the mouths of born Greeks. With contributions from various authors. Collected for scholars and non-scholars by Dr. KJ, 3 vol., Grimma 1827 (the third volume contains: Modern Greek folk songs in the original and with German translation together with explanations of fact and words , edited by Karl Theodor Kind in Leipzig)

literature

• Conrad Bursian : Iken, Karl , in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 14 (1881), p. 14.
• Lilia Diamantopoulou : Carl Jakob Iken and his pioneering role in neo-Greek studies. Berlin: de Gruyter 2020 (Cultures and Practices of Knowledge in History; 3), ISBN 311060082X .

Web links

Wikisource: Carl Jacob Ludwig Iken  - Sources and full texts