Franz Ernst Heinrich Spitzner (October 31, 1787 – July 2, 1841) was a German

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

who specialized in

Homeric studies Homeric scholarship is the study of any Homeric topic, especially the two large surviving epics, the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey''. It is currently part of the academic discipline of classical studies. The subject is one of the oldest in education. A ...

. He was born in Trebitz,

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

. He studied

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 ...

and

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 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 ...

, where he was student of

Christian Lobeck Christian August Lobeck (; 5 June 1781 – 25 August 1860) was a German classical scholar. Lobeck was born at Naumburg, in the Electorate of Saxony. After studying at the universities of Jena and Leipzig, he became ''Privatdozent'' at the Uni ...

(1781–1860). In 1811 he became conrector at the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

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 ...

, where two years later he was appointed rector. In 1820 he relocated to the Gymnasium at

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, and in 1824 returned to his former position at the Wittenberg Lyceum.

Published works

Spitzner's work on Greek prosody was translated into English and published in 1831 a
"Elements of Greek Prosody"
He was an editor of

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

's "''Erklärende Anmerkungen zu Homers Ilias''" (Explanatory notes on Homer's

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

). Other noted works by Spitzner are: * ''Observationes criticae in Apollonii Rhodii Argonautica'', 1810. * ''De versu graecorum heroico maxime Homerico'', 1816 (with Friedrich Traugott Friedemann). * ''Geschichte des Gymnasiums und der Schulanstalten zu Wittenberg'', (History of gymnasiums and school institutions in Wittenberg), 1830. * ''Observationes criticae et grammatica in Quinti Smyrnaei Posthomerica'', 1837.Google Search
published works by Spitzner.

References

Wikisource
@

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

1787 births 1841 deaths People from Bad Schmiedeberg 19th-century German educators 19th-century philologists German philologists Heads of schools in Germany {{Germany-academic-bio-stub