Wilhelm Lange (philologist)

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Johann Wilhelm Lange (* 1. March 1767 in Halle (Saale) , † 7. December 1831 ibid ) was a German classical philologist . For a long time professor at Halle University , Librarian of the University Library and teacher at the Lutheran high school in Halle.

Life

Wilhelm Lange was born as the son of an innkeeper in the hotel "Zur Goldenen Kugel" in Halle. He attended the Lutheran Gymnasium in his hometown and was later to take over his parents' inn. Contrary to their wishes, he began to study medicine at the University of Halle in 1785 , but soon, under the influence of the philologist Friedrich August Wolf, changed the subject and studied ancient languages .

After completing his studies, Lange got a job in 1791, initially as a collaborator and later as a full teacher at the Lutheran Gymnasium in Halle. The school's director was Benjamin Friedrich Schmieder , Lange's later father-in-law. Since he also attended theological lectures at the university, he often preached in the prison church in Halle and was elected as a member of the church college of St. Georgen in Glaucha near Halle. After merging the grammar school with the Latin school of the orphanage of the Francke Foundations , he received a full teaching position at this school.

Already in 1795 he obtained after a two-day public disputation the doctor of philosophy and even lectures as the right to private lecturer to keep at the university. In 1802 he was given the management of the university library. In 1810, Lange received an extraordinary professorship at the University of Halle.

Wilhelm Lange died unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism in Halle on December 7, 1831, at the age of 64 . Two months earlier he had broken his left shin , but the fracture healed. For a long time they were buried in the St. Andreasfriedhof in Halle, and many of his students accompanied the funeral procession. He had been married to the eldest daughter of school principal Benjamin Friedrich Schmieder since 1795. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter, of whom only the youngest son survived the parents.

Wilhelm Lange left numerous writings. As early as 1797 his work Isokrates Panegyrikus appeared on the Greek orator Isocrates , which he provided with an introduction and comments. He also dedicated later publications to Isocrates, for example a translation of his speeches and letters in 1798. But he also occupied himself with the works of Xenophon and Phaedrus . In 1829 he published his reading book Speech and Language School and in the same year the second volume Sprachlicher Denkstoff .

Publications (selection)

  • Isocrates Panegyricus. Translated from the Greek for the first meal, with an introduction and the most necessary comments. Leipzig 1797.
  • All the speeches and letters of Isocrates. Berlin / Stralsund 1798.
  • Isocratis opera quae extant omnia. Hall 1803.
  • Xenophontis memorabilium Socratis. Hall 1806.
  • C. Sallustii Crispi Opera Quae Exstant Praeter Fragmenta Omnia. Hall 1815.
  • Drafting a fundamental metric or general theory of Greek and Roman verse. Hall 1820.
  • Xenophontis Symposium. Hall 1825.
  • Commentatio de difficili Horatii loco in Satyris. Hall 1826.
  • Speech and language school. A reading book for German youth to promote their language skills. Magdeburg 1829.
  • Linguistic thinking material. Reading book for German youth. Magdeburg 1829.

literature

  • Wilhelm Pökel : Philological writer lexicon . Alfred Krüger, Leipzig 1882, page 150, ( digitized )
  • Bernhard Weißenborn (arr.): Round chronicle of the city of Halle 1750–1835. Gebauer-Schwetschke, Halle 1933, page 496.
  • Hallisches Patriotic Wochenblatt. ( Nekrolog ), 4th quarter, December 24, 1831, pages 1239–1241, ( digitized )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lange, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lange, Johann Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German classical philologist and teacher
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1767
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1831
Place of death Halle (Saale)