Johannes Stroux (25 August 1886 – 25 August 1954) was a German

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, scholar of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

and organizer of scientific projects and organizations. In 1945 he became rector of the

Berlin University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt ...

and president of the

Berlin Academy of Science The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, , in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution of East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR). The acad ...

Life and work

Stroux was born in

Haguenau Haguenau (; or ; ; historical ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Département in France, department of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg ...

in Alsace-Lorraine, which at this time belonged to the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

. He studied in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. In 1914 he became professor at the university of

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 ...

(Switzerland), 1922 in

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 ...

, 1923 in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

and 1924 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 1935 he moved to Berlin as successor of

Eduard Norden Eduard Norden (21 September 1868 – 13 July 1941) was a German classicist, classical philologist and historian of religion. When Norden received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University, Harvard, James Bryant Conant referred to him as "the ...

. In 1937 he became a member of the ''Prussian Academy of Science''. From 1945 to 1947 he acted as rector of the Berlin University, the later ''Humboldt-University''. Stroux replaced his predecessor

Eduard Spranger Eduard Spranger (; 27 June 1882 – 17 September 1963) was a German philosopher and psychologist. A student of Wilhelm Dilthey, Spranger was born in Berlin and died in Tübingen. He was considered a humanist who developed a philosophical ped ...

as ''acting rector'' in October 1945, when control of the university was shifted from the municipal administration of Berlin (''Magistrat'') to the newly created East-German educational administration (''DZV''), which was itself controlled by the ''Soviet Military Administration in Germany'' (SMAD). On 29. January 1945 Stroux reopened the Berlin university, which was closed because of war damages on buildings, necessary reorganizations and

denazification Denazification () was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

, which was demanded be the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. He acted as elected rector until 1947. From 1945 to 1951 Stroux was president of the

German Academy of Sciences at Berlin The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, , in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent Research institute, research institution of East Germany (German Democratic Repub ...

(before 1946 called ''Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften'', then ''Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin'').

Organization of science

In different positions Stroux was a part of the international long-term project

Thesaurus Linguae Latinae The ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae'' (abbreviated as ''ThLL'' or ''TLL'') is a monumental dictionary of Latin founded on historical principles. It encompasses the Latin language from the time of its origin to the time of Isidore of Seville (die ...

(TLL), the most comprehensive dictionary of the Latin language as well as other similar projects. From 1934 to 1949 Stroux was president of the commission of the German academies for the TLL. Stroux became 1939 representative of the German academies for the

Union Académique Internationale The Union Académique Internationale (UAI)—in English, International Union of Academies—is a federation of many national academies and international academies from more than 60 countries all over the world which works in the field of Humaniti ...

(UAI) and was in same year elected as vicepresident of the UAI.

Political activity

As one of vice presidents of the East-German

Kulturbund The Cultural Association of the GDR (, KB) was a federation of local clubs in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It formed part of the Socialist Unity Party-led National Front, and sent representatives to the Volkskammer. The association had ...

Stroux became a member of the parliament of the

GDR East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

, the

People's Chamber The Volkskammer (, "People's Chamber") was the supreme power organ of East Germany. It was the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs were subservient to it. The Volkskammer was initial ...

Scientific work

Stroux published scientific works in the field of Latin language and literature, Roman law,

papyrology Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...

and

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. One of his most successful works was a book with the title ''summum ius summum iniuria''. It was about the introduction of the concept of ''equity'' into Roman Law from Greece through the school of rhetoric. From 1929 until 1954 he edited the :de:Philologus, an academic journal for classical philology, existing from 1848 until today. In this journal Stroux published also many of his own articles. In the 20th he was one of the editors of the journal

Gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields, typically to measure directions, position, or time. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was ...

and later editor of the more popular journal de:Die Antike.

Scientific networking

In the intellectual discussion circle

Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft (1863–1944) The (Geheime) Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft (" ecretBerlin Wednesday Society") was a small group of German liberal thinkers in Berlin. As early as 1783 (with Johann Erich Biester as secretary), intellectuals associated with the Late Enlightenm ...

, member since 1937, he met with scientists like

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

Ferdinand Sauerbruch Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch (; 3 July 1875 – 2 July 1951) was a German surgeon. His major work was on the use of negative-pressure chambers for surgery. Biography Sauerbruch was born in Barmen (now a district of Wuppertal), Germany. He st ...

Eugen Fischer Eugen Fischer (5 July 1874 – 9 July 1967) was a German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics, and a member of the Nazi Party. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, ...

and

and also with some of the people, who planned to overthrow the NS-regime in the

20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

of 1944: Johannes Popitz,

Ulrich von Hassell Christian August Ulrich von Hassell (12 November 1881 – 8 September 1944) was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell unsuccessfully proposed to the British ...

, Jens Jessen and General

Ludwig Beck Ludwig August Theodor Beck (; 29 June 1880 – 20 July 1944) was a German general who served as Chief of the German General Staff from 1933 to 1938. Beck was one of the main conspirators of the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

Memberships and merits

In 1950 Stroux was awarded the

National Prize of East Germany The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scientific achievem ...

. and the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

, 1954 the

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

of the GDR. He was elected as member of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities () is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject. The general goal of th ...

(1929) and 1930 elected as corresponding member of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

, the ''Academia dei Lincei'' in Rome and the ''Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskapssamfundet Lund''. 1937 he became member of the ''Prussian Academy of Sciences'' and the ''Strassburger wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft'', 1954 member of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

Major works

De Theophrasti Virtutibus Dicendi''. Dissertationsschrift. Teubner, Leipzig 1912.
* Handschriftliche Studien zu Cicero De oratore. Die Rekonstruktion der Handschrift von Lodi. Teubner, Leipzig 1921. * Summum ius summa iniuria: Ein Kapitel aus der Geschichte der interpretatio iuris. Teubner, Leipzig 1926. * Nietzsches Professur in Basel. Frommannsche Buchhandlung, Jena 1925. * Eine Gerichtsreform des Kaisers Claudius. Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, München 1929. * ''Die Foruminschrift beim Lapis niger'' In: Philologus Vol. 86 (1931), p. 460. * Das historische Fragment des Papyrus 40 der Mailänder Sammlung, In: Sitz.-Ber. d. Dt. Akad. d. Wiss. zu Berlin, Klasse f. Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst, Jahrg. 1952, Nr. 2, Berlin 1953, Nr. 2, 24 S. * Vom Wesen der Kultur. Auszüge aus einer Ansprache zur Eröffnung der Berliner Universität. In: Aufbau: Kulturpolitische Monatsschrift. Jahrgang 1. Herausgegeben vom Kulturbund zur Demokratischen Erneuerung Deutschlands. Aufbau Verlag, Berlin 1946, S. 111–116.

References

External links

Webpage about Stroux at Humboldt-University Berlin

Biographical text at the ''Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften'' (BBAW)

Website with text about Stroux at the ''Zentrum Grundlagenforschung Alte Welt'' at the ''Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften'' (BBAW)

Kieler Gelehrtenverzeichnis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroux, Johannes 1886 births 1954 deaths People from Haguenau People from Alsace-Lorraine Cultural Association of the GDR members Members of the Provisional Volkskammer Members of the 1st Volkskammer German classical scholars German classical philologists Classical philologists German male writers University of Strasbourg alumni University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Basel Academic staff of the University of Kiel Academic staff of the University of Jena Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta