Carl Otto Lagercrantz (26 February 1868 – 13 January 1938) was a Swedish classical philologist and rector of

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

Biography

Otto Lagercrantz was born at Näsby in

Jönköping County Jönköping County () is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in September 2017. The capita ...

, Sweden. Lagercrantz graduated from high school in Uppsala in 1887. He then studied at

, earning his bachelor's degree in 1890 and his licentiate degree in 1895. He completed his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1898 with a dissertation titled ''Zur griechischen Lautgeschichte''. He then served as professor of Greek, first at the Gothenburg University College and then at Uppsala University. He was appointed

prorector Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic ran ...

of Uppsala University in 1929 and served as its rector 1932–1933. Lagercrantz had wide scholarly interests. In the field of

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 ...

, he became an international expert on alchemical manuscripts: he published the

Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis The Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis (also known as the Stockholm papyrus) is a collection of craft recipes compiled in Egypt . It is written in Greek. The Stockholm papyrus has 154 recipes for dyeing, coloring gemstones, cleaning (purifying) pearls, and ...

in 1913 and was co-publisher of the definitive work in the area, ''Catalogue des manuscrits alchimiques grecs''. His other works concerned Greek drama, etymology, lexicography and the philology of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. Lagercrantz undertook study trips to Germany, England, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece. He was elected member of several learned societies: the

Royal Society of the Humanities at Uppsala The Royal Society of the Humanities at Uppsala () is a Swedish Royal academy for the study of the humanities. Founding The society was founded in 1889 by a donation from tannery factory owner Jacob Westin in Stockholm who gave SEK 50,000 in his ...

, the

Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg The Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg (, abbreviated KVVS and often known simply as ''Samhället'') is a Swedish Royal Academy. Its predecessor was founded in Gothenburg in 1773 and the academy took its present name in 1778. The sam ...

, the Royal Society of Letters at Lund and the

Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities also called simply the Royal Academy of Letters or Vitterhetsakademien abbreviated KVHAA ( or or ) is the Sweden, Swedish Swedish Royal Academies, royal academy for the Humanities. Its ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagercrantz, Otto 1868 births 1938 deaths People from Vetlanda Municipality Uppsala University alumni Papyrologists Swedish classical scholars Rectors of Uppsala University Academic staff of the University of Gothenburg Members of the Royal Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities Burials at Uppsala old cemetery