Leopold Prowe

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Leopold Prowe

Leopold Friedrich Prowe (born October 14, 1821 in Thorn ; † September 26, 1887 there ) was a German high school teacher and historian. He was particularly known for his research on Nicolaus Copernicus, who was also born in Thorn . Prowe's extensive biography was published under the title Nicolaus Coppernicus .

life and work

Prowe was born the son of the Thorner councilor Prowe. He passed his Abitur exam at the age of 18 and then went to Leipzig to study. Prowe then returned as a teacher at the Thorner Gymnasium and was involved in the creation of the Copernicus monument by Friedrich Tieck from Berlin in 1853 , which the Thorner Monument Committee had set itself as a goal when it was founded. The Coppernicus Association for Science and Art in Thorn emerged from the committee in 1854, and Leopold Prowe was its chairman from 1870/71 until his death.

While the question of the nationality of the astronomer was excluded from the memorial, Prowe took a stand in view of the German-Polish clashes and the “renewed national demonstrations of the Poles” in 1859 and demanded that the Germans end their previous national indifference to Copernicus. In 1864 Maximilian Curtze became his colleague, who moved from Ballenstedt to Thorn and also taught at the grammar school there.

Prowe's Copernicus biography was the first in two hundred years, and it was fairly detailed and accurate. It is still considered unsurpassed today (2000). The Neue Deutsche Biographie characterizes it as a “standard work due to the meticulous description and the liberal position of the author, who is not committed to any national or denominational ideology.” Before that there were dozens of Copernicus biographies, among others. a. that of Pierre Gassendi , as well as various Polish works that represented Polish national interests in exile in the course of the partitions of Poland from 1772, as a result of which Poland completely disappeared from the maps from 1795. Therefore, Copernicus was considered a Pole by some, until Prowe and others countered this. Prowe traveled to several countries for his studies to see the original documents that were still preserved. In addition, thanks to his father's position, he had good access to the Thorner documents.

Prowe also reported the misinformation of the librarian Nicolaus Comnenus Papadopoli from 1726 about an alleged sighting of an entry of Copernicus' in a natio Polonia in Padua. This was discovered by Carlo Malagola around 1880. The entry on Copernicus in the General German Biography , which was made in 1876, had taken over the representation of Papadopoli, but also mentioned the inscription in the German nation at Bologna, which Malagola proved. In 1880 Prowe was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

Prowe also wrote about viticulture in Prussia.

Since 1973, the 500th year of the astronomer's birth, Prowe's work has been continued by the Nicolaus Copernicus Complete Edition .

Works (selection)

  • On the biography of Nicolaus Copernicus , Thorn 1853, online .
  • Communications from Swedish archives and libraries , Berlin 1853, online .
  • Nicolaus Copernicus in his relations with the Duke Albrecht of Prussia. Lecture given at the public meeting of the Copernicus Society for Science and Art on February 19, 1855 , Thorn 1855, online .
  • The powder explosion in Thorn i. J. 1807 . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Third episode. Volume 10, Königsberg 1865, pp. 156-159.
  • The reunification of Thorn with Prussia . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Third episode. Volume 10, Koenigsberg 1865, pp. 93-103.
  • Communications from the Thorner resident at the Warschauer Hofe , Dr. SL v. Geret (1765-1773). In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Third episode. Volume 10, Koenigsberg 1865, pp. 509-530 ; Volume 11, Königsberg 1866, pp. 541-572 .
  • Communications from the Thorner resident at the Warschauer Hofe , Dr. SL von Geret (1769–1773), in: Journal for Prussian History and Regional Studies , Volume 5, Berlin 1868, pp. 406–446 ( online ) and pp. 653–678 ( online ).
  • The Thorner Blutbuch from 1566–1669 . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Third episode. Volume 11, Königsberg 1866, pp. 122-123.
  • About the place of death and the grave of Copernicus . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Third episode, Volume 11, Königsberg 1866, pp. 213–245, online .
  • The memory of Copernicus with thankful posterity . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Third episode, volume 11, Königsberg 1866, pp. 353-402, online .
  • Nicolaus Coppernicus . Two volumes. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1883–1884

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Leopold Prowe  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Boethke: History of the Coppernicus Association for Science a. Kunst zu Thorn in the first half century of its existence , Festschrift, Thorn 1904 online .
  2. ↑ Christian Pletzing: "German Culture" and "Polish Civilization" Historical Images in West and East Prussia between Vormärz and Kulturkampf , pp. 189–204 , in: Matthias Weber: Preussen in Ostmitteleuropa: History of History and History of Understanding , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2003, ISBN 3 -486-56718-7 , ISBN 978-3-486-56718-2
  3. ↑ .. the biography by PROWE is regarded as unsurpassed to the present, despite some corrections recommended by more recent biographical research. - Andreas Kühne: Copernicanism , in: Reader's Guide to the History of Science pp. 150–153 , Taylor & Francis, 2000, ISBN 1-884964-29-X , ISBN 978-1-884964-29-9
  4. ^ Andreas Kühne:  Prowe, Leopold. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 745 ( digitized version ).
  5. ^ Karl Christian Bruhns :  Copernicus, Nicolaus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, pp. 461-469.
personal data
SURNAME Prowe, Leopold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prowe, Leopold Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German high school teacher and historian
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Thorn
DATE OF DEATH September 26, 1887
Place of death Thorn