Otto Lagercrantz
Otto Lagercrantz (full name Carl Otto Lagercrantz . * February 26, 1868 in Näsby , † January 13, 1938 in Uppsala ) was a Swedish classical philologist and papyrologist . He is best known for his studies of Greek linguistics and ancient and medieval alchemy .
Life
Otto Lagercrantz, the older son of the officer Otto Vilhelm Lagercrantz (1832–1876) and Christina (Stina) Sophia geb. Johnson, attended the grammar school in Linköping and studied after the matriculation examination (June 7, 1887) at the University of Uppsala Classical Philology and Linguistics . On April 25, 1898, he was with a dissertation on Greek phonology Dr. phil. doctorate and then worked from May 5, 1898 as a lecturer in Greek language and literature at Uppsala University. On March 12, 1907, he moved in the same capacity to Göteborgs Högskola , a predecessor institution of the University of Gothenburg . On April 25, 1913 he was appointed professor.
On April 4, 1919 Lagercrantz received the chair of Greek language and literature at his alma mater , the University of Uppsala. There he was active in teaching and research for two decades, until his death. From June 1, 1929, he acted as vice-rector of the university, then from October 1, 1932 as rector. On June 1, 1933, he resigned from office and was retired . In the same year, the Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Academies in Stockholm elected him as a working member (on November 7th).
Otto Lagercrantz was married from 1916 to the painter and graphic artist Siri Magnus (1875–1944), with whom he had two children, including the medical physicist Carl Lagercrantz (1917–2004).
Scientific work
As a Graecist , Lagercrantz had two main research areas: linguistics and ancient and medieval alchemy . In the field of linguistics, in addition to his dissertation, he published several essays and two monographs in which he dealt with Greek phonetic formation and Indo-European syntax.
His preoccupation with ancient alchemy began with a Greek papyrus book from the Kungliga Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Academy ( Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis ), which contains recipes for forging or coloring silver , precious stones and purple . Lagercrantz published an edition of this work in 1913, which has been kept in the Victoria Museum in Uppsala since 1906. From then on, Lagercrantz researched alchemical manuscripts across Europe. Together with Joseph Bidez , Franz Cumont , Armand Delatte and Johan Ludvig Heiberg , he published a directory of all known alchemical manuscripts, the Catalog des Manuscrits alchimiques Grecs , which appeared in eight volumes from 1924 to 1932.
In addition to this work, Lagercrantz always came back to ancient Greek literature through his teaching. He published some studies on Aristophanes and Sophocles and the New Testament .
Fonts (selection)
- On the history of Greek sounds . Uppsala 1898 (dissertation)
- Elementum. A Lexicological Study . Uppsala 1911
- Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis (P. Holm.). Receipt for silver, stones and purple . Uppsala / Leipzig 1913
- Alchemical recipes of the late Middle Ages . Berlin 1925
- Indo-European predicative . Uppsala 1933
literature
- Joseph Bidez: Otto Lagercrantz et l'histoire de l'alchimie . In: Archeion . Volume 21 (1938), pp. 379-385 (with list of publications)
- Gudmund Björck : Otto Lagercrantz . In: Byzantion . Volume 13 (1938) pp. 765-770
- Svensk biografiskt lexicon . Volume 22, Stockholm 1977-1979, pp. 95-97 online
Web links
- Entry on Otto Lagercrantz at the Kungliga Vitterhetsakademien (Swedish)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lagercrantz, Otto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lagercrantz, Carl Otto (full name); Lagercrantz, Karl Otto |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish classical philologist and papyrologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 26, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Näsby |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 13, 1938 |
| Place of death | Uppsala |