Conrad Benjamin

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Conrad Benjamin (born July 16, 1869 in Stettin ; † January 8, 1940 in Berlin ) was a German ancient historian and grammar school teacher who taught at the Luisenstadt grammar school from 1898 to 1930 .

Life

Conrad Benjamin was the eldest son of the Jewish banker Moses (Max) Benjamin (1839–1901) and Therese geb. Marcussohn (1847–?). He grew up with four younger siblings in Stettin and Berlin; his youngest brother was the pediatrician Erich Benjamin (1880–1943).

Conrad Benjamin attended the Königliche Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Berlin and after graduating (September 17, 1887) studied classical philology and history, first at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin , then from the summer semester 1888 up to and including the summer semester 1889 at the University of Jena . After returning to Berlin University, he especially joined the ancient historians Theodor Mommsen and Otto Hirschfeld . On June 3, 1892, with a dissertation on military history under Emperor Justinian I, he was awarded Dr. phil. PhD . He then prepared for the state examination for the higher teaching post, which he passed at the first attempt (June 27, 1893) with a moderate result: He received the license to teach in Latin, Greek and history only up to lower level II he took a supplementary exam for German on May 8, 1894. In the same year Benjamin converted from the Jewish to the Christian faith and was baptized as a Protestant.

Following the exams, Benjamin did military service from October 1, 1894 to September 30, 1895 as a one-year volunteer in Ludwigsburg . He remained associated with his regiment as a reserve officer and was promoted to lieutenant on December 13, 1897. Previously, on January 21, 1896, in an extension examination, he had received full teaching qualifications in Latin and Greek (as well as in geography up to fourth). At Easter 1896 he entered the Royal Pedagogical Seminar in Berlin and completed the first year of training (seminar year) there and at the Friedrichs-Gymnasium . The second year of training (probationary year) at the Luisenstädtisches Gymnasium was shortened to six months, taking into account his military service, so that he was unemployed for six months. On October 1, 1898, he was employed at the Luisenstädtischen Gymnasium as a scientific assistant teacher.

Benjamin worked at the Luisenstädtisches Gymnasium until his retirement (October 1, 1930), from October 1, 1902 as a senior teacher. On July 19, 1911, he received the title of "high school professor". During the First World War he served in the Landwehr and was promoted to Rittmeister on August 2, 1915.

During the National Socialist era , Conrad Benjamin continued to live in Berlin, in contrast to his brother Erich, who lost his license to teach and his license to practice medicine in 1935 and emigrated to the USA in 1938 . Conrad Benjamin died on January 8, 1940 of pneumonia that he contracted at Christmas 1939.

family

Conrad Benjamin was first married to Lili geb. Hasse (1877–1966) married, the daughter of the dentist Ludwig Haas, whom he had known since childhood. When she married in 1897, Lilli converted to the Protestant faith. The couple had four children, one of whom died at the age of two. After the birth of their daughter Maria (1906), the couple became estranged, the marriage was divorced in 1908 and the children Helene, Wolfgang and Maria stayed with their father, who in July 1909 named them "Benning". Lili Benjamin moved to Munich and worked there as a nurse. On February 25, 1909, she married Conrad's brother Erich, who worked there as a pediatrician.

Conrad Benjamin married Elise Agnes Placzek, née Agnes Placzek, in 1916. Hirschwald (1878–?), The daughter of the mineralogist Julius Hirschwald (1845–1928), who brought her two children Gerda and Heinz into the marriage. Gerda and Heinz emigrated to Chile and New York in the 1930s , where their father, the psychiatrist and sex researcher Siegfried Placzek (1866–1946), also emigrated.

Scientific work

In addition to his dissertation, Benjamin dealt with historical topics, particularly late antiquity . From around 1898 to 1914 he wrote prosopographical articles for the revision of Paulys Realenzyklopädie der classical antiquity (RE), which was directed by Georg Wissowa .

literature

  • Thirty-eighth annual report on the Luisenstädtische Gymnasium in Berlin . Berlin 1903, p. 18 ULB Düsseldorf
  • Susanne Oechsle: Life and work of the Jewish scientist and pediatrician Erich Benjamin . Dissertation, Munich 2004 ( PDF document; 1.7 MB ).

Fonts (selection)

  • De Justiniani imperatoris aetate quaestiones militares . Berlin 1892 (dissertation)
  • The German Gymnasium in the Mirror of Poetry since 1870 . Berlin 1904 (school program)

Web links

Wikisource: Conrad Benjamin  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the curriculum vitae in his dissertation: De Justiniani imperatoris aetate quaestiones militares . Berlin 1892, after p. 41 ( Internet Archive ).
  2. ^ A b Susanne Oechsle: Life and work of the Jewish scientist and pediatrician Erich Benjamin . Dissertation, Munich 2004, p. 10 ( PDF document; 1.7 MB ).
  3. ^ Cause of death according to information from Susanne Oechsle, April 13, 2010.
  4. ^ A b Susanne Oechsle: Life and work of the Jewish scientist and pediatrician Erich Benjamin . Dissertation, Munich 2004, p. 10 f. ( PDF document; 1.7 MB ).
  5. ↑ Date of the divorce according to the information in Benjamin's personal sheet ( memento from November 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) at the Library for Research on Educational History, page 4: "married 1908: divorced".
  6. ^ Susanne Oechsle: Life and work of the Jewish scientist and pediatrician Erich Benjamin . Dissertation, Munich 2004, p. 73 f. ( PDF document; 1.7 MB ).
  7. ^ Susanne Oechsle: Life and work of the Jewish scientist and pediatrician Erich Benjamin . Dissertation, Munich 2004, p. 11 ( PDF document; 1.7 MB ).
personal data
SURNAME Benjamin, Conrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ancient historian and high school teacher
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Szczecin
DATE OF DEATH January 8, 1940
Place of death Berlin