CURTIUS, Georg. Lübeck 16.4.1820 — Hermsdorf bei Warmbrunn in Silesia (now Sobieszów, Poland) 12.8.1885. German Indo-Europaean and Classical scholar. Son of Carl Georg C. (1771-1857; Syndikus of Lübeck) and Dorothea Plessing (1783-1851), younger brother the famous classical archaeologist of Ernst C. (1814-96). After Gymnasium in Lübeck studied classical and IE philology at Bonn (under Welcker, Ritschl, v. Schlegel, Lassen) and Berlin (Boeckh, Lachmann, Bopp). Ph.D. 1842 Berlin. In 1842-45 taught at Gymnasium in Dresden. From 1846 PD of classical philology at Berlin. From 1849 Professor of Classical Philology at Prague, where he soon had Schleicher as colleague. Disappointed with the Austrian university he accepted in 1854 the chair at the small university of Kiel. From 1862 Professor at Leipzig. In 1850 married Amalie Reichhelm.
It was the great merit of Curtius to introduce the methods of comparative linguistics to classical philology. He knew Sanskrit well and used it in his important Greek etymological studies. In his theories and conclusions he was rather cautious and conservative. He never understood nor accepted the Neogrammarian movement. Among his many students were i.al. J. Baunack and Brugmann.
Publications: Diss. De nominum Graecorum formatione. 62 p. B. 1842 (with Sanskrit material); habil. diss. Die Bildung der Tempora und Modi im Griechischen und Lateinischen sprachvergleichend dargestellt. 16+359 p. B. 1846.
– Die Sprachvergleichung in ihrem Verhältnis zur classischen Philologie. B. 1845, rev. 2nd ed. 8+74 p. B. 1848.
– Griechische Schulgrammatik. 311 p. Prag 1852, 23th edition 1902, translated into 10 languages.
– Grundzüge der griechischen Etymologie. 1-2. Lp. 1858-60, several revised editions (5th 1879), also English and Russian versions.
– Das Verbum der griechischen Sprache. 1-2. Lp. 1873-76, 2nd ed. 1877-80, English tr. 1880.
– Edited: Studien zur griechischen und lateinischen Grammatik. 1-10. Lp. 1868-78.
– “Zur Chronologie der indogermanischen Sprachforschung”, ASGW 12 (5), 1867, 185-261, 2nd ed. 1873, French by Bergaigne 1869.
– Zur Kritik der neuesten Sprachforschung. 161 p. Lp. 1885.
– Articles in KZ, etc.; Ausgewählte Reden und Vorträge. 173 p. Lp. 1886; Ausgewählte abhandlungen wissenschaftlichen inhalts. Hrsg. von E. Windisch. 7+269 p. Lp. 1886 (repr. 1972).
Sources: Windisch 423-425; *F. Hassenstein, Lex. gramm. 1996, 214f.; R. Meister, A.D.B. 47, 1903, 597-602; *D. Pezzi, “La vita scientifica di Giorgio Curtius”, Mem. delle R. Accad. de Sc. di Torino 2:39, 1888, 3-47; Stache-Weiske 2017, 514; *E. Windisch, G.C. Eine Charakteristik. B. 1887 and Biogr. Jb. für Altertumsk. 9, 1886, 75-128 (republ. in Sebeok 1966:1, 311-373); Wikipedia with photo; photo in Ausgew. Reden 1886, Pedersen 1959, 90 and TITUS Galeria.
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