Emil Schreiner

Emil Theodor Schreiner (born November 26, 1831 in Christiania ; † November 15, 1910 there) was a classical philologist and teacher.

Life

His parents were the businessman Peter Heinrich Schreiner (1794–1880) and his wife Andrea Wiborg (1801–82). He married his cousin Gunhild Heiberg Wiborg (November 26, 1848– January 8, 1932), daughter of the businessman Thomas Johannes Wiborg (1812–1874) and his wife Justine Sabine Damert Wirsching (1821–1854) on November 26, 1872 in Brevikmed.

Schreiner grew up in Christiania, where his father, who came from Flensburg , ran a profitable hardware store. He went to the city's cathedral school and passed an excellent exam in 1849. In 1855 he passed his exams in philology. He traveled to Berlin for further studies and from 1862 to 1863 was a one and a half year scholarship from the university in the subjects of Latin and Greek. Before that, he worked as a teacher in Nissen's Latin and Realschule, then he founded his own Latin school in Christiania. When he received a scholarship in 1862, he sold the school to his classmate Fredrik Gjertsen.

As a scholarship holder he devoted himself to the connection between rhythm and meter in Latin and Greek verse. The result was his only 80-page scientific work, printed in 1866. The value of the work lies in a comprehensive collection of materials. He did not succeed in finding a universally accepted solution to this problem.

From 1863 Schreiner taught at his old cathedral school. In 1864 he became a senior teacher. At that time, a heated debate arose in Norway about the place and necessity of classical languages ​​in high school. Schreiner belonged to the conservative direction. From 1870 to 1872 he assumed the position of provisional rector for the sick rector Ludvig Vibe . At the age of 40 he became principal of the Latin school in Skien . He stayed there for a good four years. Then he shared his duties by becoming rector of both the Latin School in Drammen and the Cathedral School in Christiania. His time in Drammen raised the level of the school. At a time when Latin had a strong position in the curriculum but was nonetheless subject to constant attacks from educational policy, its pedagogy in Latin was of great use to the subject. His Latin grammar spread rapidly. His brief Latin grammar, which was adapted to the requirements of the time in subsequent editions, was in use for almost 100 years. Together with colleagues, he also developed a Latin school dictionary, the fourth edition of which was published in 1998.

His teaching was characterized by the fact that he practiced text analysis with his students and also demonstrated the cultural values ​​of the material covered. He also played the cello reasonably and was a music lover.

In 1890 he became a member of the commission for drafting a new school law. But the majority of his proposals were rejected by the Storting , and in 1896 the Storting abolished the classical grammar school. Schreiner did not succeed in maintaining Greek as a school subject, but he was able to continue Latin by establishing a Latin line.

When he became rector of the cathedral school in 1894, it was housed in an inexpedient building. But the new School Act of 1896 led to a decline in the number of pupils and the elimination of the middle school and preparatory classes. In addition, there was an economic crisis in which the old school building was sold and the construction of the new building was more expensive than planned, so that the reduced number of students and rising operating costs endangered the existence of the school. In 1904, at the last moment, Schreiner negotiated a contract with the municipality that ensured continuation. The school still exists today.

In the summer of 1907, Schreiner retired from professional life. In 1882 he became a knight of the Order of St. Olav and in 1897 its commander, 2nd class. Since 1887 he was also a member of the "Videnskabsselskabet" in Kristiania (today "Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi").

Remarks

1. ↑ The "Examen artium" was the regular entrance examination for university, which required knowledge of Latin and Greek. So it corresponded to the Abitur, but was accepted by the university.

literature

• Egil Kraggerud: Emil Schreiner . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon .