Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
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{{Nofootnotes|date=February 2008}}
{{Infobox Person
| name = Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
| image = Wilamowitz.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption =
| birth_date = [[December 22]], [[1848]]
| birth_place = [[Markowice|Markowitz]], [[Province of Posen]]
| death_date = [[September 25]], [[1931]], [[Berlin]]
| place_of_death = [[Berlin]]
| education =
| occupation = Philologist
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
}}
'''Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff''' ([[22 December]] [[1848]] – [[25 September]] [[1931]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[Classical philology|Classical Philologist]]. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature.
== Life ==
=== Youth ===
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was born in [[Markowice|Markowitz (Markowice)]], a small village near [[Inowrocław|Hohensalza (Inowrocław)]], [[Province of Posen]], to a [[Germanization|Germanized]] family of distant [[Poles|Polish]] ancestry. His father, a Prussian [[Junker]], was Arnold Wilamowitz, of [[Szlachta]] 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]].
In 1867 Wilamowitz passed his ''[[Abitur]]'' at the renowned boarding school at [[Schulpforta]].
=== Studies ===
Until 1869 Wilamowitz studied [[Classical Philology]] at the [[University of Bonn]]. His teachers, [[Otto Jahn]] and [[Hermann Usener]], had a formative influence on him. Willamowitz's relationship with Usener was strained. He developed a lifelong rivalry with his fellow student [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] and a close friendship with his contemporary [[Hermann Diels]]. Together with Diels, he moved to [[Humboldt University of Berlin|Berlin]] in 1869, where he graduated as a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] [[cum laude]] in 1870. After voluntary service in the [[Franco-Prussian War]], he embarked on a study tour to [[Italy]] and [[Greece]].
=== Conflict with Nietzsche and Wagner ===
Before he even gained a professorial title, Wilamowitz was a main protagonist in a scholarly dispute about Nietzsche's ''[[Birth of Tragedy]]'' that attracted much attention. In 1872-73, he published two unusually aggressive polemics ([[German language|German]]: ''"Zukunftsphilologie"'', ie ''"Philology of the future"''), which strongly attacked Nietzsche (then Professor at the [[University of Basel]]) and Professor [[Erwin Rohde]] ([[University of Kiel]]). [[Richard Wagner]], whose views on art had influenced Nietzsche and Rohde, reacted by publishing an [[open letter]] and Rohde wrote a damning response. The issue at stake was the depreciation of [[Euripides]], 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]]. His polemic was considered as Classical philology's reply to Nietzsche's challenge.<ref>M.S.Silk & J.P.Stern, ''Nietzsche on Tragedy'', Cambridge University Press, 1981 pp.90-106</ref>
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 position against Nietzsche's "''rape of historical facts and all historical method''".<ref>Wilt Aden Schröder: "Fünf Briefe des Verlegers Eduard Eggers an Wilamowitz, betreffend die Zukunftsphilologie! und die Analecta Euripidea", in: ''Eikasmos'' '''12''' (2001:367-383) p. 373f.</ref>.
=== 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 [[University of Greifswald|Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität]] at [[Greifswald]]. During this period, he also married Maria Mommsen, the eldest daughter of [[Theodor Mommsen]], and published ''Homeric Studies'' (''Homerische Studien'').
=== Göttingen ===
In 1883, he took a further professorial position at [[Göttingen University|Georg-August-Universität]] in [[Göttingen]]. Here, he continued to teach Classical Philology but also gave replacement lectures in [[Ancient History]]. His influence ensured the employment of his Greifswald colleague, [[Julius Wellhausen]], in Göttingen. In 1891, he became vice-chancellor of the university and 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 [[Humboldt University of Berlin|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]], 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]] and he was a full member as of 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]]''. From 1897 he also worked as a member to the academy's Commission for [[Patristics]]. In 1894 he was elected full member of the [[German Archaeological Institute]]. He also was editor of the series ''Philologische Untersuchungen'' from 1880 to 1925.
Further, Wilamowitz taught as a guest lecturer in [[Oxford]] (1908) and [[Uppsala]] (1912), was a corresponding member of the [[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]] (1909) and the Scientific Society of [[Lund]] (1921).
===Inscriptiones Graecae===
During his presidency of the Prussian Academy, Wilamowitz achieved the continuation of [[August Böckh]]'s and [[Adolf Kirchhoff]]'s publication series, the ''[[Inscriptiones Graecae]]''. 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 [[Dęblin|Ivangorod]]. The memorandum appeared a few days later.
=== Family ===
In 1878 he married ''Maria Mommsen'', the oldest daughter of the famous [[Ancient historian]], [[Theodor Mommsen]], whom he actively assisted in the completion of his ''Roman History''. Wilamowitz spent his last years in reclusion, suffering from severe kidney problems. He died in Berlin on September 25, 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.
== Achievements ==
Wilamowitz is one of the central figures of 19th and 20th century Classical Philology. As a great authority of the literature and history of [[Ancient Greece]], Wilamowitz took a stance against traditional methodology and [[textual criticism]]. 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 [[Euripides]], [[Homer]], [[Aeschylus]], [[Pindar]] and [[Aristotle]]. As a scientific organiser, he was also responsible for the publication of important standard-setting source material publications, such as ''[[Inscriptiones Graecae]]''.
He also passionately supported the preservation of Classical education in the German school system.
Notable pupils of his include [[Felix Jacoby]], [[Karl Mittelhaus]], [[Wolfgang Schadewaldt]], [[Eduard Fraenkel]], [[Werner Jaeger]], [[Johannes Geffcken]], [[Paul Maas]], [[Eduard Schwartz]], [[Gilbert Murray]] 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]], [[Theodor Mommsen|Mommsen]], [[Paul Wendland]] and others.
== Awards ==
* 1886 Knight's Cross of the [[Hohenzollern]] House
* 1908 [[Pour le Mérite]] Order
* 1910 Honorary doctorate in Theology at the [[Humboldt University of Berlin|University of Berlin]]
* 1911 Honorary doctorate, [[Oslo University]]
* 1928 ''Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches'' (Non-wearable decoration of the [[Weimar republic]])
== Works ==
* ''Griechische Literatur des Altertums''
* ''Einleitung in die griechische Tragödie''
* ''Homerische Untersuchungen'' (1884)
* ''Die Ilias und Homer'' (1916)
* ''Hellenistische Dichtung'' (1924)
* ''Erinnerungen 1848-1914.'' Verlag von K. F. Koehler, Leipzig 1928. (Memoirs)
== Literature ==
* Michael Armstrong, Wolfgang Buchwald, William M. Calder III.: ''Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff bibliography 1867−1990''. Weidmann, Hildesheim u. a. 1991, ISBN 3-615-00062-5
==External links==
*[http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Ulrich_von_Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Original texts by Wilamowitz on German Wikisource]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==Source of translation==
{{Translation/Ref|de|Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff|oldid=36488540}}
{{BD|1848|1931|Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ulrich von}}
[[Category:German classical philologists]]
[[Category:German classical scholars]]
[[Category:German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War]]
[[Category:German nobility]]
[[Category:German philologists]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Prussian House of Lords]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Posen]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:University of Bonn alumni]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin alumni]]
[[Category:Humboldt University of Berlin faculty]]
[[Category:University of Greifswald faculty]]
[[Category:University of Göttingen faculty]]
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