Johann Wilhelm Adolf Kirchhoff (6 January 1826 – 26 February 1908) was a German classical scholar and epigraphist.

Biography

The son of historical painter Johann Jakob Kirchhoff, he was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and educated there. He then taught in various colleges until, in 1865, he was appointed professor of classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, where he remained for the rest of his life. Kirchhoff's scientific studies covered a wide range in linguistics, antiquities, and Greek epigraphy. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1888.

Writings

*''Die Homerische Odyssee'' (1859), putting forward an entirely new theory as to the composition of the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' *edition of

Plotinus Plotinus (; , ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a Greek Platonist philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher was the self-taught philosopher Ammonius ...

(1856) *edition of

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

(1855 and 1877–1878), the first critical edition based on a careful collation of all the manuscripts *edition of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

(1880) *

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

(''Works and Days'', 1881) *

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, ''Respublica Atheniensium'' (On the Athenian Constitution; 3rd edition, 1889) *''Über die Entstehungszeit des Herodotischen Geschichtswerkes'' (2nd edition, 1878) *''Thukydides und sein Urkundenmaterial'' (1895). The following works are the result of his epigraphical and palaeographical studies: *''Die Umbrischen Sprachdenkmäler'' (1851) *''Das Stadtrecht von Bantia'' (1853), on the tablet discovered in 1790 at Oppido near Banzi, containing a

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

relating to the municipal affairs of the ancient Bantia (the Stadtrecht) *''Das Gotische Runenalphabet'' (1852) *''Die Fränkischen Runen'' (1855) *''Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Alphabets'' (4th edition, 1887). The second part of volume iv. of the ''Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum'' (1859, containing the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

inscriptions) and volume i. of the ''Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum'' (1873, containing the inscriptions before 403) with supplements thereto (volume iv. pts. 13, 1877–1891) are edited by him. From 1860 to 1902, he was in charge of the ''

Inscriptiones Graecae The ''Inscriptiones Graecae'' (''IG''), Latin for ''Greek inscriptions'', is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences a ...

''. He edited ''Hermes'' (1866–81).

References

* * * Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirchhoff, Adolf 1826 births 1908 deaths German classical scholars Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Writers from Berlin Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) People from the Province of Brandenburg Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Latin epigraphers Textual scholarship German male writers