Erasmus Schmidt (philologist)

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Erasmus Schmidt

Erasmus Schmidt (also: Schmid, Schmied ; born April 17, 1570 in Delitzsch ; † September 4, 1637 in Wittenberg ) was a German philologist and mathematician .

Life

Born as the son of the mayor of Delitzsch Thomas Schmidt and his wife Rebecca, daughter of the councilor Wolfgang Richter, he came from a respected middle-class background. His father was regarded as an experienced man in dealing with the seven liberal arts and gave his son a solid education until his death. After he had also attended public school at the age of 14, he moved to the electoral state high school in Schulpforta in 1585 , where he learned from Sethus Calvisius , among others . His achievements were so good that he received an electoral scholarship and in 1590 went to the University of Wittenberg .

There he completed a degree in philosophy and received his master's degree in 1593 . He then gave private lectures on Greek language and mathematics, where he attracted such attention that Melchior Jöstel proposed him as the successor to the professorship of Petrus Otto . However, Jöstel himself was assigned the task and Schmidt went on a trip to Hungary , where he hoped for a job as a teacher. However, since nothing came of this project, he returned to Wittenberg, where he continued to give lectures and was accepted as an adjunct to the philosophical faculty on May 1, 1597 . In October of the same year he was given the professorship for the Greek language.

His knowledge of Greek literature received much praise. A correct understanding of the authors was not only sought from certain rules about the structure of words and language, but Schmidt was someone who knew how to interpret and explain from intimate familiarity with the language and the circumstances of the time as well as from the best knowledge of the sources and authors . He was one of the last among the German Hellenists "who taught the Greek language and literature on the model and in the spirit of Melanchthon ".

His main work is a carefully commented edition of the poems and fragments of Pindar with a Latin translation (Wittenberg 1616). Of his other philological endeavors, the edition of Hesiod's poems (Wittenberg 1603), which has also remained authoritative for a long time, the “School Textbook of Dialects of the Greek Language” and the work on textual criticism and interpretation of the New Testament should be mentioned. In the dispute over the ancient Greek pronunciation, he defended the Reuchlin against the Erasmian. His lessons alternately offered the interpretation of classical and post-classical writers and the presentation of linguistic theory, "whereby spelling, pronunciation, prosody and etymology were not neglected". In his lecture on the poetic description of the world "Oikumenes periegesis" by the Greek poet Dionysios Periegetes, he combined philological instruction with geographical teaching.

Schmidt wrote various books, from October 1601 administered the inspection of the electoral scholarship holders, carried out the visitations of the three electoral state schools in Schulpforta, Meißen and Grimma in 1604 and, in addition to his professorship for Hebrew language, became a professor of lower mathematics in 1614.

During his time he had attended five state parliaments in 1601, 1605, 1622, 1634 and 1635 and had been rector of the Wittenberg Academy twice and dean of the philosophical faculty seven times . However, he refused the position of mayor of Wittenberg that had been offered to him because of excessive workload.

The difficult times of the Thirty Years' War did not leave Schmidt unscathed either. The fever, which was rampant in Wittenberg at the time, caught him, and drugs did not help either. His death was lamented at Leucorea as a great loss for science in general and for Greek studies in particular.

On October 3, 1598 in Wittenberg, he married Anna Becker (* March 20, 1569 in Hamburg; † March 27, 1623 in Wittenberg), the widow of Michael Reichhart and daughter of the trader in Hamburg Joachim Becker and his wife Sophia (née Hügen ). From this marriage came three sons and two daughters. Two sons died at an early age. The daughters Rebecca Schmid married the Magister Johann Schwalbe, Sophia Schmid married the licentiate and professor of rhetoric Johann Müller and Erasmus the Elder. J. Erasmus Schmidt's second marriage was on November 18, 1632 with Magdalena, daughter of the lawyer from Meißen, Andreas Tuchscherer (also Tucher). A daughter Magdalena comes from this marriage, but she died shortly before Schmidt.

Selection of works

  • Pindari operacum comment. & versione, Wittenberg 1616
  • Comment. In Dionys. Afrum Periget. & Lycophronis Cassandram
  • Hesiodi opera cum interpr. Latina
  • Hesiodus Ascareus: Poemata omnia, Wittenberg 1601
  • Calendarum Etymologicum Papisticum, 1604
  • Tractatus De dialectis graecis, Wittenberg 1604, Naumburg 1671, Strasbourg 1711
  • Ed .: Friedrich Taubmann: Oratiuncula memoriae habita, 1613
  • Ed .: Cyrillus / Johannes Philoponus: Opusculum utilissimum de differentiis vocum Graecarum (...). Discursus eiusdem de pronunciatione * Graeca antiqua contra ncophyton, 1615
  • Ed .: Pindar: Pindarou periodos, hoc est: Pindari lyrica principis, 1616
  • Ed .: Novi Testament! Jesu Christi graeci, hoc est original is linguae, tamelon, alus concordance jam dudum a pluribus desideratum. Gotha, Leipzig 1717
  • Sibyllina. Wittenberg 1618
  • Prodromus Conjunctionis Magnae, anno 1623. futurae., 1619
  • Hypomnemata et alia quaedam, ad grammaticam Phippi Melanchthonis revisam pertinentia, 1621 and more often
  • Ed .: Philipp Melanchthon: Grammatica latina, 1622 and more often
  • Curriculum vitae, 1637.
  • Opus sacrum posthumum in quo continentur versio Novi Testamenti nova ad graecain virritatem emendata (…). Sacer contextus graecus cum versione veteri. Nuremberg 1658 and more

Original work

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ There are three sons and one daughter from this marriage. The first son died soon after he was born, Michael earned his master's degree and became pastor at the St. Afra Church in Meißen, Joachim studied medicine and was an adjunct at the philosophical faculty of the UWB, Anna married Jeremias Spiegel Propst and Superintendent Kemberg
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Erasmus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmid, Erasmus; Blacksmith, Erasmus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philologist and mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1570
PLACE OF BIRTH Delitzsch
DATE OF DEATH September 4, 1637
Place of death Wittenberg