Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

and its literature.

Life

Youth

Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was born in Markowitz (Markowice), a small village near Hohensalza (Inowrocław), in the then

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

(now part of the

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) in Poland. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian is one of 13 Polish constituency of the European Parliament. * Kuyavian-Pomeranian Regional Assembly is the regional legislature of t ...

), to a Germanized family of distant Polish ancestry. His father, a

Prussian Junker The Junkers ( ; ) were members of the landed nobility in Prussia. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights. These estates often lay in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an impor ...

, was Arnold Wilamowitz, of

Szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

origin and using the Ogończyk coat of arms, while his mother was Ulrika, née Calbo. The couple settled in a small manor confiscated from a local noble in 1836. The Prussian part of their name, von Moellendorf, was acquired in 1813 when Prussian field marshal Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf adopted Ulrich's ancestors. Wilamowitz, a third child, grew up in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. In 1867 Wilamowitz passed his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' at the renowned boarding school at Schulpforta. Here he was educated and learned, amongst the rest, the English language, also studying privately with Dietrich Volkmann, teacher and then Master of the school.

Studies

Until 1869, he studied

Classical Philology 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 and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. His teachers,

Otto Jahn Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in Kiel – 9 September 1869, in Göttingen), was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. Biography After the completion of his university studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, ...

and

Hermann Usener Hermann Karl Usener (23 October 1834 – 21 October 1905) was a German scholar in the fields of philology and comparative religion. Life Hermann Usener was born at Weilburg and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg ...

, had a formative influence on him. Willamowitz's relationship with Usener was strained. He developed a lifelong rivalry with his fellow student

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

and a close friendship with his contemporary

Hermann Diels Hermann Alexander Diels (; 18 May 1848 – 4 June 1922) was a German Classics, classical scholar, who was influential in the area of early Greek philosophy and is known for his standard work ''Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker''. Diels helped to im ...

. Together with Diels, he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1869, where he graduated as a

Doctor of Philosophy 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 Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 1870. After voluntary service in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, he embarked on a study tour to Italy and Greece.

Conflict with Nietzsche and Wagner

Even before he gained a professorial title, Wilamowitz was a member of a scholarly dispute about Nietzsche's '' Birth of Tragedy'' that attracted much attention. In 1872–73, he published two unusually aggressive polemics (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''"Zukunftsphilologie"'', i.e. ''"Philology of the future"''), which strongly attacked Nietzsche (then Professor at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...

) and Professor Erwin Rohde (

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, whose views on art had influenced Nietzsche and Rohde, reacted by publishing an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

and Rohde wrote a damning response. The issue at stake was the deprecation of

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

, on whom Nietzsche blamed the destruction of Greek tragedy. Wilamowitz saw the methods of his adversaries as an attack on the basic tenets of scientific thought, unmasking them as enemies of the

scientific method The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...

. His polemic was considered as Classical philology's reply to Nietzsche's challenge. At the age of 80 when Wilamowitz wrote his memoirs, he saw the conflict with Nietzsche less passionately but did not retract the essential points of his critique. He stated that he had not fully realised at the time that Nietzsche was not interested in scientific understanding but rather in Wagner's musical drama, but also that he was nevertheless right to take his position against Nietzsche's "rape of historical facts and all

historical method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be draw ...

Greifswald

In 1875, he gained a professorial title for his study ''Analecta Euripidea''. In the same year, he gave his first public academic lecture in Berlin. In 1876, he was employed as ''Ordinarius'' (full professor) for Classical Philology at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität at

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

. During this period, he also married Marie Mommsen, the eldest daughter of

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

, and published ''Homeric Studies'' (''Homerische Studien'').

Göttingen

In 1883, he took a further professorial position at Georg-August-Universität in

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 ...

. Here, he continued to teach Classical Philology but also gave replacement lectures in

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

. His influence ensured the employment of his Greifswald colleague,

Julius Wellhausen Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, his research interest moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhau ...

, in Göttingen. In 1891, he became vice-chancellor of the university, and he was appointed a member of Göttingen's Royal Academy of Sciences one year later. When Wilamowitz left Göttingen, he was succeeded by Georg Kaibel, a close associate from his student days and his successor at Greifswald.

Berlin

In 1897, with the support of his friend Diels, Wilamowitz was offered a position at the Royal Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität at Berlin, as successor to Ernst Curtius. He stayed until his retirement in 1921. In 1915, he was appointed chancellor of the university for one year. Together with Diels, he founded the Berlin Institute for Ancient Studies (''Institut für Altertumskunde'') in 1897. His public lectures on subjects of

Classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, which took place twice a week, attracted large audiences.

Teaching activities and memberships

In 1891, Wilamowitz was elected a corresponding member of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

and he was a full member from 1899. In 1902 he took the academy's presidency. As a member of the Göttingen Academy, he strongly encouraged the publication of the ''

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 ...

''. From 1897 he also worked as a member of the academy's Commission for

Patristics Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics e ...

. In 1894 he was elected full 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 ...

. He also was editor of the series ''Philologische Untersuchungen'' from 1880 to 1925. Further, Wilamowitz taught as a guest lecturer in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(1908) and

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

(1912), was a corresponding member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

(1909) and the Scientific Society of

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

(1921).

''Inscriptiones Graecae''

During his presidency of the Prussian Academy, Wilamowitz oversaw the continuation of

August Böckh August Böckh or Boeckh (; ; 24 November 1785 – 3 August 1867) was a German classical scholar and antiquarian. Life He was born in Karlsruhe, and educated at the local gymnasium; in 1803 he left for the University of Halle, where he studied t ...

's and Adolf Kirchhoff's publication series, the ''

Inscriptiones Graecae The ''Inscriptiones Graecae'' (''IG''), Latin for ''Greek inscriptions'', is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences a ...

''. Wilamowitz had a formative influence on the further development of that project, which he directed until his death.

World War I

Wilamowitz was an initiator of the memorandum ''Erklärung der Hochschullehrer des Deutschen Reiches'' ("Declaration by the University Teachers of the German Reich"), in which 3,016 signatories supported German participation in the First World War. Shortly after, he also signed the '' Manifesto of the Ninety-Three'', from which he distanced himself later. In 1914, his son, Tycho von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, who was also active as a classical philologist, fell in the battle of Ivangorod. The memorandum appeared a few days later.

Family

In 1878, he married Maria Mommsen, the eldest daughter of the famous

ancient historian Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term "historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific to ...

, whom he actively assisted in the completion of his ''Roman History''. Wilamowitz spent his last years in seclusion, suffering from severe kidney problems. He died in Berlin on 25 September 1931, having been in a coma for a short time. He is buried in his native village, along with his wife, Maria (1855–1936), and their only son, Tycho. He also had a daughter, Dorothea Freifrau Hiller von Gaertringen, wife of archaeologist Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen, who died on 24 March 1972.

Achievements

Wilamowitz is one of the central figures of 19th and 20th century Classical philology. As a great authority on the literature and history of

, Wilamowitz took a stance against traditional methodology and

textual criticism Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...

. As a representative of Postclassicism, he concentrated less on literary history but rather aimed to extract biographical information on the respective authors from the preserved texts. Thus, he employed historical perspectives to serve philology. Apart from his seminal general works (''Greek Literature from Antiquity'', ''Hellenistic Poetry''), he published numerous detailed studies of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

and

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. As a scientific organiser, he was also responsible for the publication of important standard-setting source material publications, such as ''

''. He also passionately supported the preservation of Classical education in the German school system. Notable pupils of his include

Felix Jacoby Felix Jacoby (; 19 March 1876 – 10 November 1959) was a German classicist and philologist. He is best known among classicists for his highly important work '' Fragmente der griechischen Historiker'', a collection of text fragments of ancient ...

, Karl Mittelhaus, Wolfgang Schadewaldt, Eduard Fraenkel,

Werner Jaeger Werner Wilhelm Jaeger (30 July 1888 – 19 October 1961) was a German-American classicist. Life Werner Wilhelm Jaeger was born in Lobberich, Rhenish Prussia in the German Empire. He attended school in Lobberich and at the Gymnasium Thomaeum i ...

, Johannes Geffcken, Paul Maas, Eduard Schwartz,

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...

, Paul Friedländer, Friedrich Solmsen and Johannes Sykutris. In recent decades, the American scholar William M. Calder III has been publishing a series of important documents about and by Wilamowitz, including much of his correspondence with Diels, Eduard Norden, Mommsen, Paul Wendland, and others.

Honours and awards

* 1910 Honorary doctorate in Theology at the

University of Berlin 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 Humbol ...

* 1911 Honorary doctorate,

Oslo University The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

Orders and decorations

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

: **

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

: *** Knight's Cross of the Royal

House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern ( or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various versions of the order were crosses an ...

, ''1886'' *** Knight of the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...

, 3rd Class with Bow, ''18 January 1893''; 2nd Class, ''1904'' ***

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

for Arts and Sciences, ''5 August 1908'' ** : Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art, ''1905'' ** : '' Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches'', ''1928'' * : Decoration of Honour of Arts and Sciences, ''1913''

Works

* ''Griechische Literatur des Altertums'' * ''Einleitung in die griechische Tragödie'' * ''Homerische Untersuchungen'' (1884) * ''Die Ilias und Homer'' (1916) * ''Platon (vollständig in 2 Bänden)'' (1919) * ''Hellenistische Dichtung'' (1924) * ''Erinnerungen 1848–1914.'' Verlag von K. F. Koehler, Leipzig 1928. (Memoirs)

References

Sources

* Michael Armstrong, Wolfgang Buchwald, William M. Calder III.: ''Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff bibliography 1867–1990'' (Hildesheim, Weidmann, 1991). * Braun, Maximilian, William M. Calder, III & Dietrich Ehlers, eds., ''"Lieber Prinz". Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hermann Diels und Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1869–1921)'' (Hildesheim: Weidmann, 1995). * Calder, William M. III and Bernhard Huss, eds., The Wilamowitz in Me': 100 Letters between Ulrich von Wilamovitz-Moellendorff and Paul Friedlaender (1904–1931)'' (Los Angeles: Charles Young Research Library, University of California, 1999). * Candio, Antonella, ''"Ein lebendiges Ganzes": la filologia come scienza e storia nelle "Coefore" di Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff'' (Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 2008) (Supplementi di Lexis, 57). * Norton, Robert E., "Wilamowitz at War", ''International Journal of the Classical Tradition'', 15/1, (2008), pp. 74–97.

External links

Original texts by Wilamowitz on German Wikisource
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ulrich Von 1848 births 1931 deaths People from Strzelno German classical philologists German classical scholars German scholars of ancient Greek philosophy German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War German untitled nobility German philologists Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian House of Lords People from the Province of Posen Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences University of Bonn alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Classical philologists Prussian Army personnel Textual scholarship Corresponding fellows of the British Academy