Alphonse Roersch (1870–1951) was a Belgian philologist, professor at the University of Ghent.Louis Bakelants
Nécrologie: Alphonse Roersch (1870-1951)
''

Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire ''Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire – Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis'', abbreviated RBPH/BTFG or simply RBPH, is a scholarly journal in the fields of philology and history, published in Belgium since 1922. Since 1953 ...

'', 29 (1951), pp. 999-1001.

Life

Roersch was born in Liège on 3 November 1870, and was educated at the Athénée royal de Liège, where he placed first in Latin. He graduated

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in 1891 and

Candidate of Law Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

in 1892. He studied in Paris (1892-3) and Berlin (1893-4) and began teaching at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

in 1895. He took a particular interest in Latin Humanists, publishing studies of Joannes Loensis (van Loo) and of

Nicolas Cleynaerts Nicolas Cleynaerts (Clenardus or Clenard) (5 December 1495 – 1542) was a Flanders, Flemish Philologist, grammarian and traveler. He was born in Diest, in the Duchy of Brabant. Life Cleynaerts was a follower of Jan Driedo. Educated at the Old U ...

, and of the history of classical philology in Belgium. In 1907, he was appointed professor in Ghent.Victor Tourneur, "Roersch, Alphonse", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
vol. 32
(Brussels, 1964), 622-625. All the articles on humanists published in the ''

'' between 1894 and 1938 were his work. He was also a contributor to the bibliographic reference work '' Bibliotheca belgica''. In 1913, after Ferdinand van der Haeghen's death, Roersch and

Paul Bergmans Paul Jean Etienne Charles Marie Bergmans (1868–1935) was a librarian in chief of the University of Ghent, and musical historian. Life Bergmans was born in Ghent on 23 February 1868. He began work at Ghent University Library on a voluntary basis ...

jointly took over the editorship of the latter project. During the First World War, Roersch was active in relief efforts. He was elected a corresponding member of the

Académie Royale de Belgique The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association that promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

in 1922, and a full member in 1932. In 1935, he succeeded

Henri Pirenne Henri Pirenne (; 23 December 1862 – 24 October 1935) was a Belgian historian. A medievalist of Walloon descent, he wrote a multivolume history of Belgium in French and became a prominent public intellectual. Pirenne made a lasting contributi ...

as chair of the board of the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium ( ; ; , abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Duke of Burgundy, Dukes of Burgundy. In ...

. He retired in 1944 due to ill health and died in Leuven on 31 July 1951.

Works

* ''Histoire de l'humanisme belge à l'époque de la Renaissance'' (2 vols., -1933)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roersch, Alphonse 1870 births 1951 deaths Academic staff of Ghent University Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium People from Liège