Christian Tobias Damm

Christian Tobias Damm (born January 9, 1699 in Geithain ; died May 27, 1778 in Berlin ) was a German linguist who was school director in 1730 and deputy headmaster at the Köllnisches Gymnasium in 1742 . This is considered to be the oldest grammar school in Berlin. Damm was retired in 1766 after the Köllnisches Gymnasium was merged with the Berlinisches Gymnasium.

Live and act

Damm was born in the Electorate of Saxony , more precisely in Geithain, a small district of the city of Leipzig . His father was a high school director and a preacher.

He studied classical philology at the University of Halle . He wrote an etymological dictionary on the works of Homer and Pindar as well as the "Handbook of the Mythology of the Greeks and Romans".

Christian Damm was a teacher from 1724, initially a private tutor in Halle, then from 1730 vice rector at the Köllnisches Gymnasium and in 1742 vice rector and finally rector. He was the teacher of Johann Joachim Winckelmann , to whom he wrote several letters, Friedrich Nicolai and Moses Mendelssohn , who Damm also called "the Greek oracle of Speestadt". Furthermore, two letters from Damm to Johann Christoph Gottsched have been preserved.

literature

• Gustav Frank, Conrad Bursian:  Damm, Christian Tobias . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 718 f.
• Damm, Christian Tobias. In: Detlef Döring, Rüdiger Otto, Michael Schlott: Johann Christoph Gottsched. Correspondence. Historical-critical edition. Volume 2: 1731–1733: Including the correspondence of Luise Adelgunde Victorie Bottsched. Walter de Gruyter, 2008, p. 589.