Theodor Ernst Mommsen
Theodor Ernst Mommsen (born July 11, 1905 in Berlin , † July 18, 1958 in Ithaca , New York ) was a German historian .
The grandson of Theodor Mommsen and nephew of Max Weber and Alfred Weber studied in Heidelberg , Vienna and Berlin and received his doctorate in 1929 with the thesis Studies on the Ideas of German Foreign Policy in the Age of the Ottonians and Salians . In his dissertation he dealt with the question of the influence of universal moments on the ideas of rulership of the high medieval empire. In 1930 he became an employee of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica . In order to supplement the outstanding volumes of material by Ludwig of Bavaria and Charles IV , he first undertook extensive archival trips to southern Germany and Alsace, and later to Florence, Bologna and Modena. In 1936 he emigrated to the USA . From 1938 to 1942 he was an assistant at Yale University and in 1942 he moved to the Groton School , where he also held lectures for American soldiers and German prisoners of war. In 1946 he was appointed to Princeton University. In 1954 he became a full professor at Cornell University . He was on friendly terms with Ernst Kantorowicz . In 1958 he took his own life. The motives for this cannot be explained. Lenbach's portrait of his grandfather, which hung in his study, was given to the Free University of Berlin in 1955.
Mommsen dealt intensively with Francesco Petrarca , to whom he devoted numerous studies, including an edition of the Testament with an English translation. His results from the numerous archive studies in Italy were presented in the anthology Italian Analects for the history of the empire in the 14th century (1310-1378) .
Fonts (selection)
- Studies on the ideas of German foreign policy in the age of the Ottonians and Salians. Ebering, Berlin 1930 (Berlin, University, dissertation, 1930).
- with Wolfgang Hagemann : Italian analects for the history of the empire in the 14th century (1310-1378) (= writings of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica . Vol. 11, ISSN 0080-6951 ). Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1952.
- Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Edited by Eugene F. Rice, Jr. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY 1959 (Reissued. Ibid. 1966).
literature
- Friedrich Baethgen : Obituary Theodor E. Mommsen. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages . 15, 1959, pp. 610-611 ( online ).
- Mommsen, Theodor Ernst. In: Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss (Ed.): International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945. Volume 2.2. Saur, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-598-10089-2 , p. 829.
- Stefan Rebenich : The Mommsens. In: Volker Reinhardt , Thomas Lau (ed.): German families. Historical portraits from Bismarck to Weizsäcker. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-52905-4 , pp. 176-178.
Web links
- Literature by and about Theodor Ernst Mommsen in the catalog of the German National Library
- Publications by Theodor Ernst Mommsen in the Opac der Regesta Imperii .
Remarks
- ↑ Cf. Kay Schiller: Scholars against worlds. Overhumanist models in the 20th century (= Fischer pocket books 14261 Forum Science, Figures of Knowledge ). Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-14261-X , pp. 62f., Pp. 65-70.
- ^ Exhibition in Eiderstedt .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mommsen, Theodor Ernst |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mommsen, Theodor E. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 11, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 18, 1958 |
| Place of death | Ithaca |