Hermann Masius (7 January 1818 – 22 May 1893) was a German

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

who was a native of Trebnitz (today a borough of

Könnern Könnern () is a town in the district of Salzlandkreis, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the river Saale, approx. 15 km south of Bernburg, and 25 km northwest of Halle (Saale) Halle (Saale), or simply H ...

). He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in Halle, and later was director of a gymnasium in

Halberstadt Halberstadt (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, the capital of Harz (district), Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town ...

. In 1860 he became director of a ''

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

'' in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, and in 1862 was appointed professor of pedagogy and director of the educational seminar at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, the first to hold that position.Prof. Dr. phil. Carl Wilhelm Hermann Masius
Professorenkatalog der Universität Leipzig Among his numerous publications was a popular work on ''Naturstudien'' ("Nature Studies", 1st ed. 1852). It was published over several editions, and acclaimed for its blending of natural and cultural history from an aesthetic standpoint. He collaborated with other academic professionals in the survey volume ''Die gesamten Naturwissenschaften'' ("Complete

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

"). As a child,

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

loved to read Mazius's books, including because "you can learn Latin, Greek, Italian and other languages from the footnotes."

References

Masius
Meyers Great Conversational Lexicon / The Collaborative Encyclopedia, Volume 13, Leipzig 1908 S. 393rd.

References

Further reading