Dietrich Heinrich Juergenson

Dietrich Heinrich Juergenson

Dietrich Heinrich Jürgenson (born July 15 ^{. Jul} / 27. July  1804 ^greg. In Vasalemma ; † August 10 ^jul. / 22. August  1841 ^greg. In Tartu ) was an Estonian philologist and literary critic .

life and work

Dietrich (Diedrich) Heinrich Juergenson was born as the son of the farm worker and later small merchant Carl Juergenson († 1840) and Magdalene Falck. At the age of ten Dietrich Heinrich Jürgenson began his schooling with a sexton and continued it from 1817 to 1819 at the district school in Tallinn and from 1819 to 1823 at the governorate high school in Tallinn. During his time at high school, the gifted boy was financially supported by a wealthy sponsor, with whom he also lived and whose extensive library he could use.

From 1823 to 1826 studied Jurgenson at the Imperial University of Dorpat theology . In addition, he acquired knowledge of Semitic languages ( Hebrew , Arabic , Chaldean and Syriac ) and attended lectures in philosophy , literary studies and education .

After graduating, Jürgenson worked as a private tutor for the children of the noble and educated lord of Tuulna ( Thulna ) at Keila ( Kegel ). At the end of 1827 he was appointed director and senior teacher at the newly founded elementary teacher seminar in Tartu, which was to train Estonian and Latvian young men to become German-speaking primary school teachers for all of Estonia and Livonia . Jürgenson took up the position in May 1828 and held it until his death. He is described as a respected educator.

On July 3, 1831, Jürgenson married his former student from Tuulna, Wilhelmine von Rehekampff (* May 21, 1814), who came from a respected, long-established Baltic German aristocratic family. The couple had at least two children.

In the 1830s, Jürgenson joined the scholarly scientific entertainment circle at the University of Dorpat and took an active part in academic life. In January 1838 he was one of the 19 co-founders of the Estonian Scholarly Society ( Õpetatud Eesti Selts ), which endeavored to get a closer look at Estonian culture, language and literature. From 1838 to 1841 he was the company's first secretary.

From 1837 until his death, Dietrich Heinrich Jürgenson was lecturer for Estonian language at the University of Dorpat. He was the first Estonian to hold this office. Among other things, Jürgenson did important preparatory work for the large Estonian-German dictionary and continued Rosenplanter's work on the bibliography of all works in Estonian. In addition, Jürgenson was active in numerous charities such as the Dorpater German Aid Association.

In the summer of 1841, Jürgenson fell seriously ill when he set off on a trip through Estonia on foot to collect materials for his dictionary. He probably died of typhus .

Works (selection)

• The elementary teacher seminar in Dorpat according to its current organization and constitution . Tartu 1833
• About the origin of the two main dialects of the Estonian language. Lecture, 1839
• Teädaandminne . Tartu 1840
• Brief history of Estonian literature . Tartu 1843/44 (posthumous)

literature

• Kingisepp, Valve-Liivi. "Dietrich Heinrich Juergenson - esimene eestlasest eesti keele lektor." In: 200 aastat eesti keele ülikooliõpet. Juubelikogumik. Edited by Valve-Liivi Kingisepp. Tartu 2003 (= Tartu Ülikooli eesti keele õppetooli toimetised 25), pp. 88–126.
• Rudolf Põldmäe. "Esimene eesti kirjandusloolane Dietrich Heinrich Juergenson", in: Keel ja Kirjandus 3/1985, pp. 166-174; 4/1985, pp. 227-233.

Web links

• Detailed CV (Estonian)
• Short biography (Estonian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.eestigiid.ee/?Person=nimi&PYear=aasta&start=75&ItemID=239
2. ↑ A picture of Jürgenson from this time can be found at http://www.utlib.ee/ekollekt/eeva/index.php?do=autor_pilt&eid=20&lang=1&aid=47&loupe=120&lens=true
3. ↑ http://www.utlib.ee/ekollekt/eeva/index.php?do=autor_ylevaade&lang=2&aid=47