Karl Albert Kurt von Fritz (25 August 1900 in

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

– 16 July 1985 in Feldafing) was a German classical

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 ...

. Appointed to an extraordinary professorship for Greek at the University of Rostock in 1933, he was one of only two German professors (the other one being Karl Barth) to refuse to swear the oath of loyalty to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

in 1934, and was therefore dismissed. He then held posts at Corpus Christi College, Oxford,

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1954 von Fritz returned to Germany, initially to the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. From 1958 until his retirement in 1968 he taught at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. Kurt von Fritz was a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences from 1959, a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences from 1962 and a corresponding fellow of the British Academy from 1973. Von Fritz gave the Howison Lectures in Philosophy in 1957. In 1981 he received the Sigmund Freud Prize for Academic Prose from the German Academy for Language and Literature.

References

Corresponding fellows of the British Academy 1900 births 1985 deaths Writers from Metz German classical philologists Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the University of Rostock Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States {{Germany-bio-stub