Rudolf Pfeiffer
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Carl Franz Otto Pfeiffer (September 20, 1889–May 5, 1979) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 classical philologist
Classical philology
Classical philology is the study of ancient Greek and classical Latin. Classical philology has been defined as "the careful study of the literary and philosophical texts of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds." Greek and Latin literature and civilization have traditionally been considered...

. He is known today primarily for his landmark, two-volume edition of Callimachus
Callimachus
Callimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...

 and the two volumes of his History of Classical Scholarship, in addition to numerous articles and lectures related to these projects and to the fragmentary satyr play
Satyr play
Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of tragicomedy, similar in spirit to burlesque. They featured choruses of satyrs, were based on Greek mythology, and were rife with mock drunkenness, brazen sexuality , pranks, sight gags, and general merriment.Satyric drama was one of the three varieties of...

s of Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...

 and Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

.

Early life and education

Pfeiffer was born in Augsburg on September 20, 1889. His parents were Carl Pfeiffer, the proprietor of a print-shop, and Elise (née Naegele). The boy's grandfather Jakob, also a printer, had purchased the house of the humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 Konrad Peutinger
Konrad Peutinger
Conrad Peutinger was a German humanist diplomat, politician, and economist, who was educated at Bologna and Padua. Known as a notorious antiquarian, he collected, with the help of Marcus Welser and his wife Margareta Welser, one of the largest private libraries north of the...

, and Pfeiffer would later consider it a special stroke of fate that he had been born and bred in the former home of a central figure from the golden age of humanism in Augsburg. He studied at the Gymnasium of the Benedictine St. Stephen's Abbey
St. Stephen's Abbey, Augsburg
St. Stephen's Abbey, Augsburg is a Benedictine monastery, formerly a house of Augustinian canonesses, in Augsburg in Bavaria, Germany.-First foundation:...

, where he was a pupil of P. Beda Grundl, a follower of Wilamowitz
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was a German Classical Philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature.- Youth :...

 with whom Pfeiffer spent his leisure time reading all of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

 and a host of other Greek authors
Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in the Ancient Greek language until the 4th century.- Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity :...

.

Upon passing the Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

 in 1908, Pfeiffer moved on to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 where he was inducted into the Stiftung Maximilianeum and began studying classical
Classical philology
Classical philology is the study of ancient Greek and classical Latin. Classical philology has been defined as "the careful study of the literary and philosophical texts of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds." Greek and Latin literature and civilization have traditionally been considered...

 and German
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...

 philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...

 at the University of Munich. There he studied under the Germanist Hermann Paul
Hermann Paul
Hermann Otto Theodor Paul was a German linguist and lexicographer. He was professor for German language and literature in Freiburg in the Breisgau as well as Munich, and he was a prominent Neogrammarian....

 and Hellenist Otto Crusius. Although Pfeiffer would continue serious study of German literature while at the university, Crusius' influence upon him was great and set the stage for his later career as a scholar of Hellenistic poetry.

In 1913, under the direction of the literary historian Franz Muncker, Pfeiffer completed a dissertation on the sixteenth-century Augsburg Meistersinger
Meistersinger
A Meistersinger was a member of a German guild for lyric poetry, composition and unaccompanied art song of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Meistersingers were drawn from middle class males for the most part.-Guilds:...

 and translator of Homer and Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

, Johann Spreng, entitled Der Augsburger Meistersinger und Homerübersetzer Johannes Spreng, a revised version of which was be published as a monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...

 in 1919. He dedicated his dissertation as an uxori carissimae sacrum, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 for (roughly) "a gift of devotion to a wife most dear"—namely, Lili (née Beer), a painter from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 whom he had married earlier in 1913. In 1968 Pfeiffer would repeat this dedication in the first volume of History of Classical Scholarship, closing the preface with:


"My first publication in 1914 bears the dedication 'Uxori carissimae sacrum'. I renew the words of the dedication with still deeper feeling for all that she has done for me in the course of more than half a century."


Lili died the next year; the couple had no children.

Academic career

Pfeiffer later remarked that his marriage to Lili was perhaps hasty, since his prospects for an academic position were still unclear. In 1912 he had taken up a position at the Universitätsbibliothek München which he would hold until 1921, but his academic career did not resume in earnest until, upon being wounded at Verdun
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...

 in 1916, he decided to rededicate himself to scholarship. His first passion during this period of renewed activity was the steadily accruing papyri
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....

 of Callimachus
Callimachus
Callimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...

, several of which he had studied in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 before the war with Wilhelm Schubart, the foremost literary papyrologist of the age. In 1920 a promotion allowed Pfeiffer to take a year's leave and return to that city, where he made the acquaintance of Wilamowitz who recognized great potential in the young scholar and with whom Pfeiffer would have a lasting friendship. The following year Pfeiffer was habilitated into the University of Munich under the chairmanship of Eduard Schwartz
Eduard Schwartz
Eduard Schwartz was a German classical philologist.Born in Kiel, he studied under Hermann Usener, Mommsen and Wilamovitz-Moellendorf. Schwartz taught in at least half a dozen universities culminating with a post in Munich. He published numerous articles and works in the area of Greek and Roman...

, the successor to his former mentor Crusius. The work that earned him his Habilitation, Kallimachosstudien (1921), was soon followed by an edition of all the Callimachus papyri available at that time, entitled Callimachi fragmenta nuper reperta (1923).

Recognition of Pfeiffer's early work on Callimachus was swift, and in 1923, with Wilamowitz's endorsement, he was appointed to the professorship at Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...

 that had been vacated by Eduard Fraenkel
Eduard Fraenkel
Eduard David Mortier Fraenkel was a German-English philologist.-Background and early life:Eduard Fraenkel was born to Jewish parents in Berlin. His father was a wine dealer, and his mother the daughter of an important publishing family...

 when he moved on to the University of Kiel
University of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...

. Later in the very same year Pfeiffer took over the position at Frankfurt that Karl Reinhardt had vacated at Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...

, only to move on again in 1927 to Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

. Finally, in 1929 he returned to his alma mater as a professor alongside Schwartz at Munich.

The stability afforded by this new position allowed Pfeiffer to not only redouble his focus upon Callimachus and Greek literature in general, but also to return to a topic which had from his youth held a special interest for him: the history of humanism and classical scholarship. Over the next ten years he would publish a series of articles on this topic, his first work in this vein since revising his dissertation in 1919. Archaic epic and lyric also drew his attention during this period, as well as the new papyrus finds that were adding to the corpus of the tragedians. But Callimachus remained his primary focus, and a series of articles on the still further fragments which were being published at this time solidified his reputation as the foremost scholar of the poet's work, and in 1934 he was recognized as a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject...

.

In 1937 Pfeiffer would have to move again: he was forced out of his chair at Munich because of his marriage to a Jewish woman. He and Lili relocated to Oxford, where Pfeiffer gained a position in part due to the recommendation of Schwartz, who stated that Pfeiffer "towered over all the other" philologists of his generation. Eduard Fraenkel had already been driven from Germany to Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

, and with the addition of Pfeiffer The Oxford Magazine
The Oxford Magazine
The Oxford Magazine is a review magazine and newspaper published in Oxford, England. It was established in 1883 and published weekly during Oxford University terms....

 declared, "Once more, Oxford gains what Nazi Germany has lost." At Oxford Pfeiffer had access to the Callimachus fragments in the vast collection of Oxyrhynchus papyri
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a very numerous group of manuscripts discovered by archaeologists including Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt . The manuscripts date from the 1st to the 6th century AD. They include thousands of Greek and...

 and worked amicably with the great British papyrologist Edgar Lobel who had himself published valuable work on the poet. In his obiturary of Lobel, Sir Eric Gardner Turner
Eric Gardner Turner
Sir Eric Gardner Turner CBE was an English papyrologist and classicist.Turner was born in Broomhill, Sheffield. He was educated at King Edward VII School and Magdalen College, Oxford and taught classics at the University of Aberdeen from 1936 to 1948, although from 1941 to 1945 he served in the...

 wrote, "The partnership over Callimachus with Rudolf Pfeiffer went well on both sides, and ended in mutual affection and esteem and a notable edition of the poet." That edition of fragments, the first volume of Pfeiffer's magnum opus (1949), would be followed four years later by a second volume comprising the Hymns, Epigrams and testimonia.

Pfeiffer was restored to his chair at Munich in 1951 from which he would retire in 1957. The remaining years of his life following the completion of his Callimachus were devoted to his interest in the history of classical scholarship that had been kindled while still a youth in Augsburg. In the preface to History of Classical Scholarship from the Beginnings to the Hellenistic Age (1968) he reports that, "As soon as the second volume of Callimachus was published in 1953 by the Clarendon Press, I submitted to the delegates a proposal for a History of Classical Scholarship". This book was followed in 1976 by a volume treating the period from 1350–1800. He had intended to publish a third volume to cover the intervening period, but his interests in Hellenistic scholarship and the high humanist period (and the urging of Fraenkel) drew him to the bookends of his history and, upon his death, only a long abandoned sketch of the volume covering Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...

 and the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 had been completed.

Callimachus

:
  • Callimachus, vol. i: Fragmenta (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949) ISBN 978-0198141150.
  • Callimachus, vol. ii: Hymni et epigrammata (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953) ISBN 978-0198141167.


:
  • Kallimachosstudien. Untersuchungen zur Arsinoe und zu den Aitia des Kallimachos (München: Hüber, 1922).
  • Callimachi ragmenta nuper reperta (Bonn: Marcus & Weber, 1923). Edition of the papyrus finds to the point of publication.
  • "Arsinoe Philadelphos in der Dichtung", Antike 2 (1926) 161–74.
  • "Kallimachoszitate bei Suidas", in: Stephaniskos. Festschrift für Ernst Fabricius (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1927) 40–6.
  • "Ein neues Altersgedicht des Kallimachos", Hermes 63 (1928) 302–42.
  • "Βερενίκης πλόκαμος", Philologus 87 (1932) 179–228.
  • "Ein Epodenfragment aus dem Jambenbuche des Kallimachos", Philologus 88 (1933) 265–71.
  • Die neuen διηγήσις zu Kallimachos Gedichten (München: Beck, 1934). Short monograph.
  • "Zum Papyrus Mediolanensis des Kallimachos", Philologus 92 (1934) 483–85.
  • "Neue Lesungen und Ergänzungen zu Kallimachos-Papyri", Philologus 93 (1938) 61–73.
  • "The measurements of the Zeus at Olympia", JHS
    Journal of Hellenic Studies
    The Journal of Hellenic Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal which contains articles that pertain to Hellenic studies, i.e. the language, literature, history, and archaeology of the ancient Greek world, and reviews of recent books of importance to Hellenic studies. It is published annually...

     61 (1941) 1–5.
  • "Callimachus", Proceeding of the Classical Association (1941) 7-11.
  • "A fragment of Parthenios' Arete", Classical Quarterly 37 (1943) 23–32.
  • "The image of the Delian Apollo and Apolline ethics", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 15 (1952) 20–32.
  • "Morgendämmerung", in: Thesaurismata. Festschrift für I. Kapp zum 70. Geburtstag (München: Beck, 1954) 95–104.
  • "The future of studies in the field of Hellenistic poetry", Proceeding of the Classical Association 51 (1954) 43-45.
  • "The future of studies in the field of Hellenistic poetry", JHS 75 (1955) 69–73.

History of classical scholarship

:
  • History of Classical Scholarship: From the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968) ISBN 978-0198143420.
  • History of Classical Scholarship: 1300-1850 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976) ISBN 978-0198143642


:
  • "Zum 200. Gebursttag von Chr. G. Heyne", Forschungen und Fortschritte 5 (1929) 313.
  • Humanitas Erasmiana (Leipzig: Teubner, 1931). Pamphlet.
  • "Wilhelm von Humboldt der Humanist", Antike 12 (1936) 35–48.
  • "Von den geschichtlichen Begegnungen der kritischen Philologie mit dem Humanismus. Eine Skizze", Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 28 (1938) 191–209.
  • "Erasmus und die Einheit der klassischen und der christlichen Renaissance", Historisches Jahrbuch 74 (1954) 175–88.
  • "Conrad Peutinger und die humanistische Welt", in: H. Rinn (ed.) Augusta: 955–1955 (München, 1955) 179–86.
  • "Dichter und Philologen im französischen Humanismus", Antike und Abendland 7 (1958) 73–83.
  • Philologia perennis : Festrede gehalten in der öffentlichen Sitzung der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in München am 3. Dezember 1960 (München: Beck, 1961). Published lecture.
  • "Augsburger Humanisten und Philologen", Gymnasium 71 (1964) 190–204.

Tragedians

  • "Die Skyrioi des Sophokles", Philologue 88 (1933) 1—15.
  • "Die Niobe des Aischylos", Philologus 89 (1934) 1–18.
  • Die Netzfischer des Aischylos und der Inachos des Sophokles. Zwei Satyrspiel-Funde. (München: Beck, 1938). Short monograph.
  • "Ein syntaktisches Problem in den Diktyulkoi des Aischylos", in: H. Krahe (ed.) Corolla linguistica. Festschrift F. Sommer zum 80. Geburtstag (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1955) 177–80.
  • Ein neues Inachos-Fragment des Sophokles (München: Beck, 1958). Short monograph.
  • "Sophoclea", Wiener Studien 79 (1966) 63–66.

Other works

  • Die Meistersingerschule in Augsburg und der Homercbersetzer Johannes Spreng (Duncker & Humblot: München, 1919). A revised version of his dissertation.
  • "Gottheit und Individuum in der frühgriechischen Lyrik", Philologus 84 (1928) 137–52.
  • "Küchenlatein", Philologus 86 (1931) 455–59.
  • Die griechische Dichtung und die griechische Kultur (München: Hüber, 1932). Pamphlet.
  • "Wisdom and vision in the Old Testament", Zeitschrift für Alttestimentntliche Wissenschaft 52 (1934) 93–101.
  • "Hesiodisches und Homerisches", Philologus 92 (1937) 1-18.
  • "Vier Sappho-Strophen auf einem ptolemäischen Ostrakon", Philologus 92 (1937) 117–25.
  • "A Greek anecdote in Shakespeare's life", Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 172–74 (1939) 5–6
  • "Die goldene Lampe der Athene (Odyssee XIX,34)", Studi italiani di filologia classica 27/28 (1956) 426–33.
  • "Vom Schlaf der Erde und der Tiere (Alkman, fr. 58 D.)", Hermes 87 (1959) 1–6.

Honors

During his career, Pfeiffer received the following honors:
  • 1934 Member, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
    Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities
    The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledge within their subject...

  • 1949 Fellow, British Academy
    British Academy
    The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...

  • 1953 Member, German Archaeological Institute
    German Archaeological Institute
    The German Archaeological Institute is an institution of research within the field of archaeology , and a "scientific corporation", with parentage of the federal Foreign Office of Germany-Origin:...

  • 1955 Corresponding member, Austrian Academy of Sciences
    Austrian Academy of Sciences
    The Austrian Academy of Sciences is a legal entity under the special protection of the Federal Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every field, particularly in fundamental research...

     (made honorary member in 1972)
  • 1960 Honorary Fellow, Corpus Christi College, Oxford
    Corpus Christi College, Oxford
    Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

  • 1961 Honorary Member, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
    Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
    The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, known as the Hellenic Society, was founded in 1879 to advance the study of Greek language, literature, history, art and archaeology in the Ancient, Byzantine and Modern periods....

  • 1965 Honorary doctorate, University of Vienna
    University of Vienna
    The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

  • 1971 Corresponding member, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
    Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
    The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...

  • 1971 Honorary doctorate, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
    Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
    The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is the largest Greek university, and the largest university in the Balkans. It was named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, Chalcidice, about 55 km east of Thessaloniki, in Central Macedonia...


Works cited

  • Bühler, W. (1980) "Rudolf Pfeiffer †", Gnomon 52: 402–10.
  • Pfeiffer, R. (1968) History of Classical Scholarship: From the Beginnings to the end of the Hellenistic Age (Oxford: Clarendon Press,)
  • Turner, E.G. (1983) "Edgar Lobel †", Gnomon 55: 275–80.
  • Vogt, E. (2001) "Pfeiffer, Rudolf Carl Otto", in: Neue Deutsche Biographie, volume 20 (Berlin) 323–24.
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