Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis, also: ''Sined the Bard'', (27 September 1729 – 29 September 1800) was an Austrian

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who is best known as a poet,

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

, and

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the two superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, the r ...

Life

Denis was born at Schärding, located on the

Inn River The Inn (; ; ) is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The long river is a right tributary of the Danube, being the third largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Berni ...

, then ruled by the

Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria () was a quasi-independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Bavaria was the younger ...

, in 1729, the son of Johann Rudolph Denis, who taught him Latin at an early age. At the age of ten, he was enrolled to be educated by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

at their college in

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

. After completing his studies in 1747, he entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the Jesuits in

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. ...

. In 1749, following this initial formation period, Denis was sent to carry his period of

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

at Jesuit colleges in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and Klagenfurt. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1757. Two years later, he was appointed professor at the

Theresianum Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; ) is a private Boarding school, boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. History Early history (1614–1 ...

in Vienna, a Jesuit college. After the

suppression of the Jesuits Suppression may refer to: Laws * Suppression of Communism Act *Suppression order a type of censorship where a court rules that certain information cannot be published * Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand aimed ...

in 1773, and the subsequent closing of the college, he remained there to maintain its library until 1784, at which time he was made second custodian of the library of the royal court, and seven years later became its chief librarian. Denis died in Vienna in 1800.

Writings

A warm admirer of Klopstock, Denis was one of the leading members of the group of so-called

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

s; and his original

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, published under the title ''Die Lieder Sineds des Barden'' (1772), shows all the extravagances of the bardic movement. He is best remembered as the translator of

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

(1768–1769; also published together with his own poems in 5 volumes as ''Ossians und Sineds Lieder'', 1784). More important than either Denis' original poetry or his translations were his efforts to familiarise the Austrians with the literature of

Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...

; his ''Sammlung kürzerer Gedichte aus den neuern Dichtern Deutschlandes'', 3 volumes (1762–1766), was in this respect invaluable. He has also left a number of bibliographical compilations, ''Grundriss der Bibliographie und Bücherkunde'' (1774), ''Grundriss der Literaturgeschichte'' (1776), ''Einleitung in die Bücherkunde'' (1777), and ''Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte bis 1560'' (1782). ''Ossians und Sineds Lieder'' have not been reprinted since 1791; but a selection of Denis' poetry, edited by Richard Hamel, is to found in volume 48 (1884) of ''Kürschners Deutsche Nationalliteratur''. His '' Literarischer Nachlass'' was published by Joseph Friedrich Freiherr von Retzer in 1802 (2 volumes), two years after Denis had died in Vienna, aged 71.

Scientist

In addition to his literary output, working with

Ignaz Schiffermüller Jeremias "Johann" Ignaz Schiffermüller (; 2 November 1727 – 21 June 1806) was an Austrian naturalist and Jesuit teacher who took a special interest in the Lepidoptera. In order to describe the colours of butterflies, he also looked for a syste ...

, Denis formed an early collection of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s, and published the first catalogue of the

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

found around Vienna. His collection was kept at the

Hofburg Palace The Hofburg () is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the im ...

and was destroyed in course of the

Revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

Works

*''Poetische Bilder der meisten kriegerischen Vorgänge in Europa seit dem Jahr 1756'', Wien 1760 *''Die Gedichte Ossians, eines alten celtischen Dichters, aus dem Englischen übersetzt'', Wien 1768–69 *''Einleitung in die Bücherkunde'', Wien 1777–1778 *''Die Lieder Sineds des Barden'', Wien 1772 (which includes the text to

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

). *''Systematisches Verzeichniß der Schmetterlinge der Wienergegend herausgegeben von einigen Lehrern am k. k. Theresianum'' (with

), Wien 1775 *''Grundriß der Bibliographie'', Wien 1777 *''Die Merkwürdigkeiten der k. k. garellischen öffentlichen Bibliothek am Theresiano'', Wien 1780 *''Bibliotheca typographica Vindobonensis ab anno 1482 usque ad annum 1560'', Wien 1782 (auch deutsch ''Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte bis 1560'', Wien 1782–1793) *''Ossian und Sineds Lieder'', 5 Bände, 1784 *''Kurze Erzählung der Streitigkeiten über die alten Urkunden'', Heidelberg 1785 *''Zurückerinnerungen'', Wien 1794 *''Carmina quaedam'', Wien 1794 *''Beschäftigungen mit Gott schon in dem 12. Jahrhundert gesammelt'', Wien 1799

Literature

*Paul von Hofmann-Wellenhof: ''Michael Denis. Ein Beitrag zur deutsch-oesterreichischen Literaturgeschichte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts''. Wagner, Innsbruck 1881

Notes

External links

*
Biography and list of selected works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denis, Michael 1729 births 1800 deaths People from Schärding District 18th-century Austrian Jesuits Austrian lepidopterists 18th-century Austrian poets Austrian male poets Austrian bibliographers Jesuit scientists 18th-century male writers