Jacobus Gronovius a.k.a. Jacob Gronow (10 October 1645 – 21 October 1716) was a Dutch classical scholar. He was born in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, the son of the German classical scholar Johann Friedrich Gronovius and Aleyda ten Nuyl, and father of the botanist

Jan Frederik Gronovius Jan Frederik Gronovius (also seen as Johann Frederik and Johannes Fredericus) (10 February 1690 in Leiden – 10 July 1762 in Leiden) was a Dutch botanist notable as a patron of Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus. John Clayton (botanist), John Clayton, a pl ...

. His family moved to Leiden in 1658. He studied classics under the guidance of his father and then he completed his education in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. Between the beginning of 1671 and the end of 1673 he visited

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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and

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during a Grand Tour. In

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

he met the Italian librarian Antonio Magliabechi. His religious faith caused him some difficulties, therefore he came back to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1674. He then lived in

until 1679, when he was appointed Professor of Greek history and language at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. One year later, on 5 May 1680 he married Anna van Vredenburch from Rotterdam. Gronovius is chiefly known as the editor of the ''Thesaurus antiquitatum Graecarum'' (1697–1702, in 13 volumes). He died, aged 71, in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

References

1645 births 1716 deaths Dutch classical scholars People from Deventer Classical scholars of Leiden University {{Classical-scholar-stub