Joseph Szövérffy

Joseph Szövérffy (also Josef Szövérffy; born on 19th June 1920 in Cluj , died on 28. June 2001 in Athens ) was a Hungarian Central Latin philologist , specialist in German and comparative literature .

Born in the then Hungarian Cluj , was Joseph Szövérffy during World War II in Budapest doctorate . After the war he served Cardinal József Mindszenty as envoy abroad. Under the impression of the increasing influence of the Soviet Union , which also led to the persecution of Cardinal József Mindszenty, he chose exile and lived sometimes in Italy , sometimes in Switzerland . He then moved to Ireland with his mother , where he researched and taught for seven years, before becoming a professor at the University of Ottawa and then at the University of Alberta in Edmonton . In the 1960s and 1970s he taught at Yale University , Boston College and the State University of New York in Albany . Joseph Szövérffy has been visiting professor at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Vienna, among others . In 1961 and 1969 he was a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation , in 1962 a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies .

The main research interests of Joseph Szövérffy included, in addition to German medieval literature and the broad comparative literary studies of this epoch, above all Middle Latin poetry and hymnography. There was also a variety of topics, including the hymnographic literature of the Byzantine Empire and Irish storytelling . His Annals of Latin Hymn Poetry and Latin Hymns are standard works.

Publications (selection)

A bibliography for the years 1943–1985 was compiled as part of the 1986 commemorative publication .

• Irish stories in the West. Studies in comparative folklore and medieval research. Schmidt, Berlin 1957.
• The annals of the Latin hymn poetry. A manual. 2nd volumes. Schmidt, Berlin 1964–1965.
• Secular poetry of the Latin Middle Ages. Volume 1: From the beginning to the end of the Carolingian era. Schmidt, Berlin 1970.
• Germanistic treatises: Middle Ages, Baroque and Enlightenment. Collected writings (= Medieval Classics. Texts and Studies. Volume 8). Classical folia editions, Brookline, Mass. / Leyden 1977.
• A Guide to Byzantine Hymnography. 2nd volumes. Classical folia editions, Brookline, Mass. / Leyden 1978-1979.
• A Concise History of Medieval Latin Hymnody. Religious Lyrics between Antiquity and Humanism. Classical folia editions, Brookline, Mass. / Leyden 1985.
• Marian motifs of the hymns. A contribution to the history of Marian poetry in the Middle Ages. Classical folia editions, Brookline, Mass. / Leyden 1985.
• On the location of European literature. Function, social references and worldview in the Middle Ages. Brill, Leiden 1986.
• Latin hymns. Brepols, Turnhout 1989.
• Secular Latin Lyrics and Minor Poetic Forms of the Middle Ages. A Historical Survey and Literary Repertory. 4 volumes. Classical folia editions, Concord, NH 1992-1995.
• Ivory tower and woman world. Classical folia editions, Concord, NH 1996.
• Iberian Latin Hymnody. Survey and Problems. Brepols, Turnhout 1998.
• Latin Conductus texts of the Middle Ages. The Institute of Mediaeval music, Ottawa 2000.

• Irene Vaslef, Helmut Buschhausen (eds.): Classica et mediaevalia. Studies in honor of Joseph Szövérffy (= Medieval Classics. Texts and Studies. Volume 20). Brill, Leiden 1986.
• Kurt Smolak (Ed.): Hymnum canamus socii, in memoriam Josef Szövèrffy (= Vienna Humanist Leaves. Special issue). Vienna Humanistic Society, Vienna 2002.

literature

• Jan Ziolkowski : Joseph Szövérffy (1920–2001). In: The Journal of Medieval Latin. Volume 11, 2001, pp. V-VI.
• Jan Ziolkowski: In memoriam Joseph Szövérffy. In: Middle Latin Yearbook . Volume 38, No. 1, 2003, pp. 1-2.

Remarks

1. ^ Entry on the Foundation's website.
2. ^ Entry on the website of the American Council of Learned Societies.
3. ↑ Professor Joseph Szövérffy. Publications 1943–1985. In: Irene Vaslef, Helmut Buschhausen (eds.): Classica et mediaevalia. Studies in honor of Joseph Szövérffy (= Medieval Classics. Texts and Studies. Volume 20). Brill, Leiden 1986, pp. IX-XII.