Viktor Stegemann

Viktor Stegemann (born January 17, 1902 in Aachen , † March 2, 1948 in Graefelfing ) was a German classical philologist , coptologist and religious scholar . He was particularly prominent through publications on the history of religion and astrology of late antiquity and on Coptic .

Life

Stegemann studied Classical Philology, History and Egyptology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Munich . In Heidelberg, where it particularly Franz Boll influenced, he was in 1925 with a thesis on Augustine's City of God Dr. phil. doctorate , which appeared three years later in a revised form.

After completing his studies, Stegemann worked as a high school teacher. In addition to his school service, he continued his studies on the history of religion and science in antiquity. Ancient astrology was a special focus . In addition, the study of the Coptic magic texts became increasingly important .

In 1937 Stegemann completed his habilitation at the University of Würzburg with a collection of fragments on the didactic poem of Dorotheos of Sidon (1st century AD). A year later (1938) he was appointed lecturer at the university.

In the last trimester of 1940 Stegemann switched to teaching at the German University in Prague , where he was appointed professor in 1943. In addition to Latin courses, he also held exercises and seminars in Coptic.

After the end of the Second World War , Stegemann was expelled from Czechoslovakia and moved to Graefelfing near Munich. There he lived without income or employment. At first he gathered a circle of friendly researchers and students around him, but they soon dispersed again. He couldn't finish his work. He died on March 2, 1948 at the age of 46 while visiting his wife in the sanatorium.

Fonts (selection)

• Augustine's State of God . Tübingen 1928 ( Heidelberg Treatises on Philosophy and its History 15)
• Contributions to the history of astrology . Book 1: The Greek astrologer Dorotheos of Sidon and the Arabic astrologer Abu-'l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn-Abi-'r-Riǧāl . Heidelberg 1935 (no longer published)
• The figure of Christ in the Coptic magical texts . Heidelberg 1934
• The Coptic magic texts from the Archduke Rainer Papyrus Collection in Vienna . Heidelberg 1934
• Astrology and Universal History. Studies and interpretations of the Dionysiacs of the Nonnos of Panopolis . Leipzig 1930
• Coptic paleography . Heidelberg 1936
• The fragments of Dorotheos of Sidon (= sources and studies on the history and culture of antiquity and the Middle Ages. Series B: Summarized groups of monuments. Book 1). 4 deliveries planned. Heidelberg 1939 (series 1) and 1943 (series 2), no more published (= habilitation thesis , University of Würzburg, 1937)
• Gaius Julius Caesar: The Gallic War. Clarified and explained . Leipzig 1939 ( Dieterich Collection 26)
• Dorotheos of Sidon and the so-called Introductorium of Sahl Ibn Bišr . Prague 1942
• Dorotheos of Sidon: A report on the possibilities of reconstruction of his astrological work . In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie 91, 1942, pp. 326–349
• From a medieval German astronomical-astrological textbook. An investigation into the origins, origins and aftermath of a chapter on planet children. Reichenberg 1944 (= Prague German Studies. Volume 52); Reprint Hildesheim 1973.
• (Ed.) Franz Boll: Small writings on ancient astronomy . Leipzig 1950
• with Bernhard Bischoff : Nikolaus von Kues: The calendar improvement = De correctione kalendarii . Heidelberg 1955

literature

• Franz Brunhölzl : Theodor Hopfner (1886–1945), Viktor Stegemann (1902–1948), Albert Rehm (1871–1949) . In: Eikasmós . Volume 4, 1993, pp. 203-216
• Wolf B. Oerter: The estate of Viktor Stegemann in Prague . In: Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrology, Helsinki, August 1-7, 2004 . Helsinki 2007, pp. 827-838 (= Commentationes humanarum litterarum 122)
• Martin Sicherheitsl : Memories of Prague (1933–1937) . In: Eikasmós . Volume 4, 1993, pp. 85-94
• Martin Sicherheitsl: Classical Philology at the German University of Prague 1849-1945 . In: Writings of the Sudeten German Academy of Sciences and Arts . Volume 20, 1999, pp. 285–337 (abridged version in: Eikasmós . Volume 14, 2003, pp. 393–419)

Web links

• Literature by and about Viktor Stegemann in the catalog of the German National Library