Christian Siegmund Georgi (20 July 1702 - 6 September 1771) was an evangelical theologian at

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

in the heart of Germany.

Life

Christian Siegmund Georgi was born in

Luckau Luckau (Lower Sorbian: ''Łuków'') is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the States of Germany#States, federal state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia". Origin of t ...

, a small town in

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

n flat lands south of

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 ...

. His father was a senior official (''"Oberamtsadvokat"'') in the town. He attended school locally till 1720 when he moved to

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

to further his education. On 4 June 1722 he enrolled at the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

. Alongside his interest in

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 ...

, he initially devoted himself to the study of classical and oriental languages. On 30 April 1723 he was awarded his

Magister degree A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from , "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the doctorate; ...

from the Philosophy Faculty. He received his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

on 1 February 1726 at the Wittenberg Academy with a dissertation entitled "De Chaldaeosyrismis Rabbinismis et Persismis dictioni Novi Foederis immerito affictis". On 17 November 1727 he became an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

at the Philosophy Faculty, and an extraordinary professor of Philology in 1736. In 1743 he was appointed a full professor of

, the subject in which he received his doctorate on 17 October 1748. Georgi was more than once appointed Dean of the Theology Faculty, a rotating appointment which he held during the winter terms of 1758 and 1764. In 1770 he served as Rector of the Wittenberg Academy. His most outstanding contribution was in the fields of new testament criticism and

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

. His approach made for deep differences with Johannes Vorst and Johannes Olearius He also conducted in a long running "literary disputation" with

Johann Erhard Kapp Johann Erhard Kapp (23 March 1696 – 7 February 1756) was a German rhetorician and history, historian. Life Johann Erhard Kapp was born in Oberkotzau, a small market town in the hill country between Leipzig and Nuremberg. His father was a :de ...

and Siegmund Friedrich Dresig. Alongside university disputations and presentations involving matters of dogma, Georgi contributed chronicles and historical works.

Output (selection)

* , 1726–27 * , 1731 * 3, 1732 * , 1731 * 3 * 3 * , 1732 * , Vol. 1-4, 1745–57 * 1655–1755 * 1772 * , * , Reprint, Verlag J. Siener, 1993, Stuttgart,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgi, Christian Siegmund 18th-century German Protestant theologians Academic staff of the University of Wittenberg 18th-century German linguists People from Luckau 1702 births 1771 deaths