Erdmann Copernicus (born in the 1520s in

Gransee Gransee ()''Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch, 7. Auflage (German)'', Dudenverlag, is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 20 km south of Fürstenberg/Havel, and 55 km northwest of Berlin. An importa ...

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

; †

25 August Events Pre-1600 * 19 – The Roman general Germanicus dies near Antioch. He was convinced that the mysterious illness that ended in his death was a result of poisoning by the Syrian governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, whom he had ordered to l ...

1573 Year 1573 ( MDLXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 25 – Battle of Mikatagahara in Japan: Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugaw ...

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...

) was a German

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

, composer and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...

mainly active in the ''Margraviate'' or ''Electorate of Brandenburg'', a precursor to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. Similar to the unrelated astronomer

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...

(1473–1543), his name is documented in several partially Latinized variants: Erdmann/Erdmannus/Ertmannus/Erdmanus Kopernikus/Copernicus.

Life

He on 4 Mai 1545 joined

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

in Saxony as ''Ertmannus Copernicus Granselensis'', and graduated on 25 February 1546 as

Magister Magister is Latin for "master" or "teacher". It may refer to: Positions and titles * Magister degree, an academic degree * Magister equitum, or Master of the Horse * Magister militum, a master of the soldiers * Magister officiorum (''master of o ...

of philosophy. For winter semester 1546-47 he returned to Brandenburg to continue his studies at the state university in

, named ''Alma Mater Viadrina'' after the river

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech language, Czech, Lower Sorbian language, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder ri ...

. Moved upstream in 1811 and merged with the university in Breslau where WW2 put an end to it in 1945, it was in 1991 re-established in Frankfurt/Oder as

European University Viadrina European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) (german: Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)) is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the ...

. After being a school principal in the ''New Town'' district of

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

, Copernicus in 1556 continued law studies at University of Wittenberg until he was appointed professor in Frankfurt/Oder upon the recommendation of

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the L ...

. Being popular among students, they petitioned

Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II (german: Joachim II Hector or ''Hektor''; 13 January 1505 – 3 January 1571) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1535–1571), the sixth member of the House of Hohenzollern. Joachim II was the eldest son of Joac ...

(1505-1571) with verses in Latin for a raise of Copernicus' salary. On 21 April 1573, after having been the university's vice rector during the winter semester, he was promoted to

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

, and also to head of university for the summer semester of 1573, during which he died. His hymns were published posthumously in 1575.

Work

* ''Hymni Ambrosii, Sedulii, Propertii et aliorum, quator vocum.'' * Poems: ''Gedichte.'' In:

Petrus Albinus Petrus Albinus (German name: Peter von Weiße; 1543–1598) was a professor at Wittenberg in Germany and is known as the father of Saxon historiography. Life Petrus Albinus was born on 18 June 1543 in Schneeberg in the Ore Mountains of central ...

, 1535–1598. ''Meißnische Land vnd Berg-Chronica.'' Dresden. 1589 (Commend. poem
448
by Erdmannus Copernicu
microformguides.gale.com
(PDF; 1,1 MB). * Johannes Schosser: ''Elegia Viadri ad albim continens gratulationem …'' Eichorn, 1560. * Ludolph Schrader: ''Gamēlion Erdmani Copernici scriptum, …'' Eichorn, 1560. * ''Oratio de prima ivris origine progressionibus & incrementis …'', Eichorn, 1561. * Michael Haslobius, Henricus Iagow: ''In honorem clarissimi viri …'' Eichorn, 1563.

Literature

* Heinz Scheible (ed.): ''Melanchthons Briefwechsel.'' Kritische und kommentierte Gesamtausgabe. Band 11: ''Personen.'' Teil: ''A–E.'' Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart u. a. 2003, ISBN 3-7728-2257-6, S. 301. *

Johann Heinrich Zedler Johann Heinrich Zedler (7 January 1706 in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) – 21 March 1751 in Leipzig) was a bookseller and publisher. His most important achievement was the creation of a German encyclopedia, the '' Grosses Universal-Lexicon (Gre ...

: ''

Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon The ''Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschafften und Künste'' ( en, Great Complete Encyclopedia of All Sciences and Arts, , italic=yes) is a 68-volume German encyclopedia published by Johann Heinrich Zedler between 1731 and ...

'
at wikisource
*

Robert Eitner Robert Eitner (22October 18322February 1905) was a German musicologist, researcher and bibliographer. Life Robert Eitner was born and grew up in Breslau, the rapidly industrialising administrative capital of Silesia. He attended the St. Elisa ...

: ''Biographisch-bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten Christlicher Zeitrechnung bis Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts.'' 1900. Akademische Druck- u. Verlaganstalt, Graz 1959 (). *

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univ ...

: ''Biographie universelle des musiciens: et bibliographie generale de la musique.'' Firmin-Didot, Paris 1875–1883, Band II, S. 355
gallica.bnf.fr
. *

Ernst Ludwig Gerber Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in Sondershausen, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German composer, organist, cellist, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians. His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), ...

: ''Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, welches Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken musikalischer Schriftsteller, berühmter Komponisten, Sänger, Meister auf Instrumenten, kunstvoller Dilettanten, Musikverleger, auch Orgel- und Instrumentenmacher älterer und neuerer Zeit aus allen Nationen enthält.'' Erster Theil ''A–D'', M. Kühnel, Leipzig 1812, Sp. 77
books.google.de
Copernicus (Erdmannus) zuletzt Rector Magnificus zu Frankfurt a. d. O., geb. daselbst, wurde auf Melanchthons Empfehlung erst Doktor und Professor der Rechte daselbst, wobey er den Studenten so beliebt wurde, daß sie etliche Male beym Churfürsten Joachim II. um die Verbesserung seines Gehaltes in lateinischen Versen nachsuchten. Er starb am 25. Aug. 1573 in der höchsten Würde der dasigen Akademie, nachdem er von seiner arbeit in den Druck gegeben hatte: Hymni Ambrosii, Sedulii, Propertii et aliorum à 4 voc. 1575.8. Walther und Jöcher. *

Christian Gottlieb Jöcher Christian Gottlieb Jöcher (20 July 1694 – 10 May 1758) was a German academic, librarian and lexicographer. Jöcher was born in Leipzig, and became professor of history at the University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität ...

: ''Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon'' ("General Dictionary of the Learned") in four volumes, published 1733–1751
archive

External links

* TheMusicSack
Copernicus, Erdmannus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copernicus, Erdmann 1500s births 1573 deaths 16th-century German writers 16th-century German jurists German musicians People from Frankfurt (Oder)