Jürgen Anton Benedikt Niese (24 November 1849 – 1 February 1910), also known as Benedict, Benediktus or Benedictus Niese, was a German classical scholar. Niese was born in Burg, on the island of Fehmarn, then part of the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

but ruled by King

Frederick VII of Denmark Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian; 6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and the last monarch, king of Denmark to r ...

. His father was Emil August Niese, pastor in the town, and his mother was born Benedicte Marie Matthiessen. He was educated at the Domgymnasium in Schleswig and then from 1867 at

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, studying under Alfred von Gutschmid. After volunteering for the army during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, he was awarded a PhD in 1872. After teaching for a short time in a secondary school in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

, he travelled in Italy and France. In 1876 he became a lecturer at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. He was a professor at the University of Marburg from 1877 to 1881, after which he became Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Breslau. In 1885 he took the same post at Marburg and was rector there in 1900/01. In 1906 he was appointed Professor of Ancient History at the University of Halle, and died there in 1910. In 1881 he married Bertha Zimmerman (1859–1937). Their son Hans was born in 1882. He became a lecturer in History at University of Göttingen and died in 1915 in the First World War. Their daughter Annemarie was born in 1890 and died in 1975. Niese is best known for his then definitive ''editio maior'' of the works of the Jewish historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

(Weidmann, Berlin, 1885–1895), based on a detailed study of the best manuscripts available. His numbering system is still the most commonly used when referring to the text. His other works include ''Grundriß der römischen Geschichte'', 1889–1905), ''Studien insbesondere über klassische griechische Autoren'' and ''Die Entwicklung der homerischen Poesie'', 1882. ''Geschichte der griechischen und makedonischen Staaten seit der Schlacht bei Chaeronea'' was published between 1893 and 1899. Niese's sister was the writer Charlotte Niese.

Works

*''De Stephani Byzantii auctoribus. Commentatio prima, etc''. (A study of

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

. Kiel, 1873.) *''Der homerische Schiffskatalog als historische Quelle betrachtet.'' (The Homeric Ship Catalogue Considered as a Historical Source) (Kiel, 1873.) *''Die Entwickelung der Homerischen Poesie'' (The development of Homeric poetry. Berlin, 1882) * ''Flavii Josephi opera'' (Works of Flavius Josephus, 7 volumes, Weidmann, Berlin 1885–1895). *''De Annalibus Romanis observationes''. (Marburg, 1886) *''Geschichte der griechischen und makedonischen Staaten seit der Schlacht bei Chaeronea'' (History of the Greek and Macedonian states after the battle of Chaeronea) (Published in three parts, 1893-1903.) *''Grundriss der römischen Geschichte'' (Sketches of Roman History) (1889–1905) *''Kritik der beiden Makkabäerbücher, nebst Beiträgen zur Geschichte der makkabäischen Erhebung'' (Berlin, 1900) *''Staat und Gesellschaft der Römer'' *''Zur Geschichte Solons und seiner Zeit'' *''Neue Deutsche Biographie'', 1998. *''Deutsche Biographische Encyclopädia'', Munich, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niese, Benedikt 1849 births 1910 deaths People from Fehmarn German classical scholars People from the Duchy of Holstein University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen