Jakob Ceporin or Ceporinus (Jakob Wiesendanger, 1499–1525) was a Swiss

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

. In the town of

Dinhard Dinhard is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Winterthur (district), Winterthur, which is located in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. History Dinhard is first mentioned ...

, Ceporin was the son of a wealthy farmer. He studied at the school of Latin at

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

before attending the Universities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He acquired knowledge of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

after studying with the German humanist

Johannes Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522), sometimes called Johannes, was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France. Most of Reuchlin's c ...

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

, knowledge of which would prove useful to him when he later became an inhabitant of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, a stronghold of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He worked in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

as a proof-reader in the service of a printing house. Around the second half of 1523, Ceporin married Elsbeth Scherer, a former Dominican nun of the monastery of

Töss Töss is a district in the Swiss city of Winterthur. It is district number 4. The district comprises the quarters Schlosstal, Dättnau, Eichliacker and Rossberg. It is named after the river Töss which flows through the district. In the Middle A ...

. This marriage produced a daughter—Veronika—who later became the wife of the scholar Konrad Klauser. On 14 April 1525, Ceporin was appointed as the first Reader of Greek and Hebrew at

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swi ...

's school of theology in Zürich. Though a young man when he was appointed, his skill in languages had impressed his contemporaries; Zwingli was especially impressed by his wide knowledge. Ceporin's short book on Greek grammar (published 1522) was reprinted in many editions and was still in use in the eighteenth century in Swiss schools. Ceporin died unexpectedly at the early age of 26, on 20 December in Zürich. After the fashion of the time, Wiesendanger chose the name ''Ceporin'' as the Greek equivalent of his Swiss surname (from κηπουρός "gardener").''Wiesendanger'' is a locational surname, "of

Wiesendangen Wiesendangen is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Winterthur (district), Winterthur in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2014 the former municipality of Bert ...

"; the toponym is from ''Wisuntwangas'' "

wisent The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

pasture", but was assimilated to the word ''Wiese'' "meadow" in popular etymology.

References

Sources

*E. Egli, "Ceporins Leben und Schr.," ''Analecta Reformatoria 2'', 1901, pp. 145–160.
Ein Philologe an Zwinglis Seite
''(in German)''

ink broken Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ceporin, Jakob 1499 births 1525 deaths Swiss Protestants Swiss Renaissance humanists 16th-century Swiss people