Hermann Dessau
Hermann Dessau (born April 6, 1856 in Frankfurt am Main , † April 12, 1931 in Berlin ) was a German ancient historian and epigraphist .
Life
After graduating from high school at Easter 1874 at the Städtisches Gymnasium Frankfurt am Main (today Lessing-Gymnasium ), the son of the rabbi and headmaster Samuel Dessau studied in Berlin, among others with Theodor Mommsen , who later promoted him, and received his doctorate in Strasbourg in 1877. He carried out a research trip to Italy and North Africa for the long-term project Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) of the Prussian Academy of Sciences , led by Mommsen, and qualified as a professor in Berlin in 1884 for ancient history. From 1900 to 1922 he was a scientific official at the CIL, from 1912 an extraordinary professor, from 1917 a full honorary professor at the University of Berlin . Due to its Jewish origins, Dessau was unable to obtain a full professorship in Wilhelmine Germany.
Dessau was buried in his native city of Frankfurt am Main.
Hermann Dessau's brother Bernardo Dessau (1863-1949) was a physics professor at the University of Perugia and founder of the first Zionist magazine in Italy (Il Vessillo Israelitico) , while Hermann Dessau was extremely cautious about both Zionist and Jewish reform efforts.
Services
Dessau's main focus was on Latin epigraphy; for the CIL he edited several volumes. Above all, his name is linked to a selection of almost 10,000 Latin inscriptions , which is still important , Inscriptiones Latinae selectae (1892–1916), which is sometimes also cited as "Dessau" (abbreviated to "D.").
In addition, Dessau was one of the editors of the first edition of the Prosopographia Imperii Romani of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. His essay On Time and Personality of the Scriptores Historiae Augustae , published in 1889, was fundamental for the evaluation and research of the Historia Augusta . Dessau wrote more than 600 specialist articles for the Realencyklopädie der classical antiquity .
Dessau's three-volume history of the Roman Empire (1924–1930), which he wrote in retirement, based on his own source research and therefore deviates in many individual findings from traditional scientific views , remained unfinished.
Fonts (selection)
- About the time and personality of the Scriptores historiae Augustae . In: Hermes . Volume 24, 1889, pp. 337-392.
- The tradition of the Scriptores Historiae Augustae . In: Hermes. Volume 29, 1894, pp. 393-416.
- Inscriptiones Latinae selectae . 3 volumes in 5 sub-volumes, Weidmann, Berlin 1892–1916.
- History of the Roman Empire. 2 volumes in 3 sub-volumes, Weidmann, Berlin 1924–1930.
literature
- Arthur Stein : Hermann Dessau. In: Klio . Volume 25, 1932, pp. 226-244.
- Paul M. Meyer: In memoriam [Hermann Dessau]. In: Journal of the Savigny Foundation for Legal History. Romance Department. Volume 52, 1932, p. 560.
- Salomon Frankfurter : Hermann Dessau. In: Annual report on the progress of classical antiquity. Volume 241, 1933, 4th Dept., pp. 80-107.
- Peter Robert Franke : Dessau, Hermann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 615 ( digitized version ).
- Katja Wannack: Hermann Dessau. The almost forgotten student of Mommsen and the large companies of the Berlin Academy of Sciences (= writings on the history of ideas and science. Volume 1). Kovac, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-8300-2897-0 ( specialist review by H-Soz-u-Kult ).
- Manfred G. Schmidt (Ed.): Hermann Dessau (1856–1931). For the 150th birthday of the Berlin ancient historian and epigraphist. Contributions to a colloquium and scientific correspondence of the jubilee (= Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum. Auctarium. Series Nova, Volume 3). de Gruyter, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-021573-1 ( content ).
- Anne Glock: Hermann Dessau's grave inscription. In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy . Volume 178, 2011, pp. 300-306.
- Thomas Gerhardt: Dessau, Hermann. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Col. 301 f.
Web links
- Literature by and about Hermann Dessau in the catalog of the German National Library
- Chapeau! Mr. Dessau. Colloquium on the 150th birthday of the Berlin ancient historian and epigraphist in 2006 at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences
- Portrait photo of Hermann Dessau
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Dessau, Hermann |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German ancient historian and epigraphist |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 6, 1856 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Frankfurt am Main |
DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 1931 |
Place of death | Berlin |