Carl Schmidt (Coptologist)
Carl Schmidt (born August 26, 1868 in Hagenow , † April 17, 1938 in Cairo ), sometimes unofficially called Kopten-Schmidt among colleagues , was a German Coptologist .
Life
In 1887 Carl Schmidt began studying classical philology as well as Hebrew and comparative linguistics in Leipzig. After only a year he moved to Berlin, where Adolf Harnack led him to patristic and early Christian literary history . The Egyptologists Adolf Erman and Georg Steindorff were also influential. Steindorff taught him the Coptic language . His doctorate took place on the Codex Brucianus , to which further publications soon followed. Harnack quickly recognized Schmidt's special abilities and encouraged his students and doctoral students as much as possible. Nevertheless, Schmidt's professional future remained uncertain for a long time. In 1899 he qualified as a professor in church history with "Plotin's position on Gnosticism and ecclesiastical Christianity". With Harnack's support, he became a scientific officer of the Church Fathers' Commission in 1900.
Around 1900 Schmidt had a heated argument with Wilhelm Spiegelberg and Adolf Jacobi about the Strasbourg Coptic papyrus . Schmidt sharply criticized Spiegelberg and Jacobi's attempt at reconstruction and was supported by Harnack, who had commissioned Schmidt's report. Spiegelberg and Jacobi, in turn, assumed personal motives for Schmidt. The dispute escalated, but was calmed down again by Theodor Mommsen .
The Church Fathers Commission of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences commissioned Schmidt with the publication of the Codex Brucianus and the Pistis Sophia as part of the publication series The Greek Christian Writers of the First Three Centuries . For the publication of the now heavily destroyed Codex Brucianus, Schmidt was able to fall back on the copies by Karl Gottfried Woide and Moritz Gotthilf Schwartze , which were made when the Codex was still in better condition. He published the Acts of Peter and the Acts of Paul . In 1909 he became an associate professor at the University of Berlin , in 1921 an honorary professor and in 1928 a full professor of church history as well as Coptic language and literature. Together with Harnack, Schmidt was the editor of the texts and studies on the history of early Christian literature . Carl Schmidt also edited Manichean manuscripts and played an important role in the acquisition of Coptic manuscripts for the Berlin papyrus collection , including the Codex Berolinensis Gnosticus 8502 . Schmidt was a member of the German Oriental Society and the Society for Church History.
In 1934 he handed over the Erlangen 2 papyrus to the Erlangen library.
Publications (selection)
- De codice Bruciano seu de libris gnosticis qui in lingua coptice exstant commentatio. Pars IA qua haeresi et quo tempore "Pistis Sophia" and "Duo libri de Jeû" sint conscripti. Leipzig 1892. Dissertation.
- Gnostic writings in Coptic from the Codex Brucianus , edited, translated and edited by Carl Schmidt. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1892.
- Coptic Gnostic Writings Volume 1:Pistis Sophia, the two books of Jeû, unknown ancient Gnostic work, published by order of the Church Fathers Commission of the Royal. Prussian Academy of Sciences. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1905. In:The Greek Christian writers of the first three centuries; Coptic-Gnostic Scriptures. Volume 1. Volume two was supposed tocontainthe writings of theCodex Berolinensis Gnosticus 8502, but it never appeared. The first edition took place in 1955, 50 years later by Walter C. Till in TU 60.
- Acta Pauli from the Heidelberg Coptic papyrus manuscript No. 1 . Edited by Carl Schmidt, Translations, Investigations and Coptic Text, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1904.
- Acta Pauli , Translation of Studies and Coptic Text, second expanded edition without panels, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1905.
- The first letter of Clement in an old Coptic translation. , examined and edited by Carl Schmidt. With collotype facsimile of the manuscript, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1908.
- The old Petrusakten , in the context of the apocryphalliterature of theapostles together with a newly discovered fragment, examined by Carl Schmidt, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1903. In:Texts and studies on the history of early Christian literature. edited by Oskar von Gebhardt and Adolf Harnack, New Series Ninth Volume, the whole series XXIV Volume. This translation refers to the papyrus manuscript P 8502 in the Berlin papyrus collection (introduction p. 1).
- Early Christian texts , edited by C. Schmidt and W. Schubart. With two collotype plates, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung in Berlin 1910. In: Berliner Klassikertexte published by the General Administration of the Royal Museums in Berlin, Book VI Old Christian Texts. This includes:Ignatius, Epistula ad Smyrnacos III – XII, 1 .; TheShepherd of Hermas; Anthology from the letters of Basil; Anthology from the Vita Mosis by Gregory of Nyssa; Easter Letter from Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria; Liturgical pieces; Amulets.
- Conversations of Jesus with his disciples after the resurrection a catholic apostolic letter of the 2nd century based on a Coptic papyrus of the Institut de la Mission archéol. française au Cairewith the collaboration of Mr. Pierre Lacau ... edited, translated and examined, along with three excursions by Carl Schmidt. Translation of the Ethiopian text by Dr. Isaak Wajnberg, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1919.
- The Benan letter, a modern forgery of the life of Jesus by Ernst Edler von der Planitz,uncovered by D. Dr. Carl Schmidt, Professor of Theology at the University of Berlin with the assistance of Dr. Hermann Grapow. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1921.
- A use of the Testamentum Domini Jesu Christi . In: Harnack-Ehrung, contributions to the church history of their teacher Adolf von Harnack on his seventieth birthday, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1921, pp. 263–267.
- Pistis Sophia reissued with an introduction together with Greek and Coptic word and name indexes. Gyldendalsk Boghandel-Nordisk Forlag, Hauniae 1925. (German foreword, Coptic text, text-critical apparatus)
- Pistis Sophia, an original Gnostic work of the third century translated from Coptic. In a new version with introductory studies and indices edited by D. Dr. Carl Schmidt, Professor of Theology at the University of Berlin, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1925 (German translation)
- Studies on the pseudo-clementines, texts and studies on the history of early Christian literature, Vol. 46, Hinrichs, Leipzig 1929.
- New original sources of Manichaeism from Egypt, lecture given at the annual general meeting of the Society for Church History in Berlin on November 9, 1932. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1933.
- A Mani find in Egypt: Original writings by Mani and his students / by Carl Schmidt and Hans Jakob Polotsky . In: Meeting reports of the Prussian Academy of Sciences: Phil.-Hist. Class ; 1933.1. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences, Berlin 1933.
- Manichean manuscripts from the Berlin State Museums. Kephalaia. Vol. 1st half 1st ed. under the direction of Carl Schmidt, Stuttgart 1940.
literature
- Stefan Rebenich : Theodor Mommsen and Adolf Harnack. Science and politics in Berlin at the end of the 19th century. De Gruyter, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-11-015079-4 .
- Christoph Markschies : Carl Schmidt and no end. From the great time of Coptic Studies at the Berlin Academy and the University's theological faculty. In: Journal of Ancient Christianity . 13, 2009, pp. 5-28.
- Stefan Rebenich: “My mind stands still.” Adolf Harnack and Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff on the Schmidt-Spiegelberg controversy. In: Markus Mülke (ed.): Wilamowitz and no end (= Spudasmata. Studies on classical philology and its border areas. Vol. 92). Olms, Hildesheim 2003, ISBN 3-487-11987-0 , pp. 189-207 ( online ).
- Peter Nagel : Carl Schmidt. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , p. 200 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Carl Schmidt in the catalog of the German National Library
Individual evidence
- ^ Stefan Rebenich: Theodor Mommsen and Adolf Harnack: Science and politics in Berlin at the end of the 19th century. P. 211.
- ^ Stefan Rebenich: Theodor Mommsen and Adolf Harnack: Science and politics in Berlin at the end of the 19th century. P. 219.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schmidt, Carl |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kopten-Schmidt |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German coptologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 26, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hagenow |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 17, 1938 |
| Place of death | Cairo |