Friedrich Zucker

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Friedrich Zucker (born June 30, 1881 in Fürth ; † April 4, 1973 in Wedel ) was a German classical philologist and papyrologist who worked as a professor in Jena (1918–1961).

Life

Youth and Studies (1881–1904)

Friedrich Zucker was born the son of Adolf Zucker, a grammar school teacher who taught as a sub-principal at the Fuerth Latin School . In 1890 the family moved to Nuremberg, where the father got a position as a high school professor at the New High School. Friedrich Zucker, on the other hand, attended the old (today's Melanchton) grammar school. After graduating, he moved to the University of Munich on a Maximilianeum scholarship to study Classical Philology. In addition to the philologists Otto Crusius and Iwan von Müller , he was particularly influenced by the ancient historian Robert von Pöhlmann and the archaeologist Adolf Furtwängler . He also attended lectures by the art historian Heinrich Wölfflin and the Middle Latin composer Ludwig Traube . From a semester at the Berlin University (winter semester 1903/1904) he took with him a variety of suggestions: In addition to Hermann Diels and Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff , he heard Adolf von Harnack , who probably inspired him to do his doctoral thesis: Investigations into the sources of mythological and archaeological News in the Protrepticus of Clemens Alexandrinus . With this work, Zucker received his doctorate in Munich in 1904; it appeared shortly afterwards in an abridged version under the title Traces of Apollodors περὶ θεῶν by Christian writers of the first five centuries . In the next few years he also dealt with source criticism; However, he increasingly found his future main field of work, papyrology. During his studies he became a member of the Christian student union Munich Wingolf in 1899 , and in 1921 as a professor in Jena he was also a member of the Jenenser Wingolf.

Years of traveling and habilitation (1904–1914)

After graduating in 1904, he had accompanied Otto Rubensohn on an excavation in Egypt, then completed his probationary year at the Nuremberg grammar school and worked as a grammar school assistant in Ingolstadt for a year. In the years 1907 to 1910 he undertook excavations in Egypt himself on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute (as Rubensohn's successor) and published several papyrus finds in the Archäologische Anzeiger . However, since the great "papyrus boom" had subsided and Zucker did not make any sensational discoveries compared to its predecessors, his position was canceled by the DAI in Cairo in 1910.

Zucker's work in Egypt was highly recognized in professional circles. Wilamowitz and the Egyptologist Adolf Erman presented his results to the Prussian Academy of Sciences ; it also paved the way for him for a position at the Papyrussammlung Berlin . With his contributions to the knowledge of the court organization in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt ( Philologus , Supplement-Volume 12/1), Zucker achieved his habilitation in 1912 at the local University of Munich. With the work he reconstructed various forms of jurisdiction in Ptolemaic Egypt.

Military service and first professorships (1914–1918)

With the outbreak of the First World War , Zucker joined the military as an officer. In 1917 he returned seriously wounded and was appointed associate professor at the University of Münster . As early as 1918 he moved to Tübingen as a permanent adjunct professor .

Professor in Jena (1918–1961)

He took up his position in life on October 1, 1918 at the University of Jena , where he took over the full professorship for Classical Philology (Graecistics) and Papyrology as the successor to Otto Weinreich , who had only briefly succeeded Christian Jensen in the summer semester of 1918 . He held his inaugural lecture on January 25, 1919 on the subject of "Methodological Advances in the Field of Ancient Literary History". During his 43-year tenure, Zucker played a major role in research, teaching and administration at the university. He mainly gave lectures on Greek prose, but also made his students familiar with epigraphy and papyrology. He worked closely with his colleagues Georg Goetz , Johannes Stroux and Karl Barwick . With one of his Jena students, Dr. Else Zucker (1888–1980), he founded his family. She supported him in his research work and accompanied him on numerous study trips. In the summer semester of 1928, Zucker was elected rector for the first time. He kept his distance from the National Socialists, who were already involved in the state government in Thuringia in 1930 (" Baum-Frick government ").

During and after the time of National Socialism , Zucker kept his chair and tried to keep his subject and the university in Jena. Nevertheless, he had contacts with the resistance of the Neubauer-Poser group . The US military administration, which occupied Thuringia from April to June 1945, appointed Zucker the rector of the university. The Soviet cultural officers and the German communists, led by Walter Ulbricht, confirmed him in office at a hearing in June before Thuringia was incorporated into the Soviet zone of occupation . In autumn 1945, Zucker was officially elected rector. His efforts to develop teaching and research in the city were rewarded: after his departure from office (1948), the Saxon Academy of Sciences elected him a full member; a year later he became a full member and, from 1969, an external member of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin . State recognition took place in 1954 when the GDR National Prize, 2nd class, was awarded for science and technology. At that time he also took over the editing of the Archives for Papyrus Research (1953–1966), the co-editing of the Philologus (1954–1963), was a member of the Evangelical Research Academy of the GDR and second chairman of the Mommsen Society . He retired on September 1, 1961.

Old Age (1962–1973)

In 1962, Zucker moved to the Federal Republic of Germany for family reasons . From here, too, he took an active part in ancient studies in the GDR. First he lived with his wife in Hamburg, later in Wedel, where Zucker died on April 4, 1973 at the age of 92. His private papyrus collection went to the University of Jena.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Verband Alter Wingolfiten eV (Ed.): Vademecum Wingolfiticum , 17th edition, Lahr / Schwarzwald 1974, p. 262.
  2. ^ Members of the previous academies. Friedrich Zucker. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, accessed on February 9, 2015 .
  3. ^ Winner of the National Prize 1954 , Neues Deutschland, October 8, 1954, p. 6

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Zucker, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German classical philologist and papyrologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 30, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Fuerth
DATE OF DEATH April 4th 1973
Place of death frond