Walter Till (Coptologist)
Walter Curt Franz Theodor Karl Alois Till (born February 22, 1894 in Stockerau , † September 3, 1963 in Herzogenburg ) was an Austrian coptologist .
Life
After graduating from the Bundesgymnasium and Bundesrealgymnasium Krems, Walter Till completed a commercial apprenticeship and studied from 1913 to 1916 at the University of World Trade in Vienna , before he began studying Egyptology with Hermann Junker at the University of Vienna in 1917 , which he began in December Graduated with a doctorate in 1920. He wrote his dissertation on the subject of personal pronouns in Egyptian and Semitic . In order to secure his livelihood, he first took a position as a teacher at HTL Mödling in Mödling in 1921 . During this time he completed his habilitation in Vienna in 1928. In 1930/1931 he was able to do research in Egypt as the holder of a travel grant from the German Archaeological Institute . In 1931 Till became an employee of the papyrus collection of the Austrian National Library , in 1937 he became head of the department. From 1939 he also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Vienna. Visiting professorships led him to the University of Cairo and the University of Manchester . From 1951 to 1959 he taught as a senior lecturer in Coptic at the University of Manchester.
Till edited many Coptic texts, especially apocryphal and canonical texts with biblical content, legends of martyrs and saints , homiletic texts, early Christian writers and legal documents. His dialect grammars and his research on the history of language were fundamental . His Sahidic grammar is still an irreplaceable standard work. In addition to the language, Till also dealt with the history of culture and law . After the Second World War , gnosis became Till's primary research topic.
Till had been a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences since 1957 and a full member since 1963, as well as a corresponding member of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin .
literature
- Reinhard Grieshammer: Till, Walter. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Sp. 1224 f.
Web links
- Literature by and about Walter C. Till in the catalog of the German National Library
Josef Karabacek (1899–1904, director of the court library ) | Karl Wessely (1904–1922, curator “extra statum” ) | Theodor Seif (1923–1930, Oriental Department ) | Hans Gerstinger (1923–1936, until 1931 Greek department , then overall management ) | Walter Till (1936–1942 and 1948–1951) | Franz Unterkircher (1951–1956, official director, actually director of the manuscript collection ) | Herbert Hunger (1956–1962) | Helene Loebenstein (1962–1984) | Hermann Harrauer (1984-2005) | Cornelia Römer (2005–2009) | Bernhard Palme (since 2009)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Till, Walter |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Till, Walter C .; Till, Walter Curt Franz Theodor Karl Alois (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian coptologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 22, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stockerau |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd September 1963 |
| Place of death | Herzogenburg |