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Mariette, Auguste Édouard (ōgüst′ ādwär′ märyĕt′), 1821–81, French Egyptologist. On a visit (1850–54) to Egypt to collect Coptic manuscripts for the Louvre, he excavated (1851) the ruins of the Serapeum at Memphis. He was (1854–58) curator of the Egyptian Dept. at the Louvre. In 1858 he returned to Egypt to serve as its first director of antiquities, receiving the title of bey and later of pasha. Often called the father of Egyptian archaeology, Mariette founded (1863) at Bulak (now part of Cairo) the Egyptian national museum. He suggested the story for the libretto of the opera Aïda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Manasseh ben Israel, 1604–57, Jewish scholar and communal leader, b. Portugal. Early in his life he settled in Amsterdam, where he became a rabbi and started (1627) the first Hebrew press there. He is best known for his efforts to obtain the readmission of Jews into England, where they had been forbidden to live since 1290; he managed to obtain Oliver Cromwell's unofficial assent for Jews to settle in London. His Conciliador, an elaborate discussion of hundreds of conflicting passages in the Old Testament, was intended to make Judaism more understandable and acceptable to the Christian world. He wrote in five languages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mabillon, Jean (zhäN mäbēyôN′), 1623–1707, French scholar, a Benedictine monk. His De re diplomatica (1681; with a supplementary volume, 1704) was the first attempt to develop a critical method of determining the authenticity of documents. Mabillon thus created the science of diplomatics, which made historiography far more scientific. The work remains a classic in its field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Luzán, Ignacio de (ēgnä′thyō t̲h̲ā lōōthän′), 1702–54, Spanish scholar and critic. He studied the classics and the humanities in Italy. From 1747 to 1749 he was secretary at the Spanish embassy in Paris. Luzán's most famous work is La poética (1737), in which he voices the need for neoclassical rules and principles in poetry. About a third of the book, which had great influence, is a critical study of the Spanish drama. Luzán was the translator of many Latin, French, English, and Italian works. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Luria or Loria, Isaac ben Solomon (lŏr′ēə, lôr′–), 1534–72, Jewish kabbalist, surnamed Ashkenazi, called Ari [lion] by his followers, b. Jerusalem. In his 20s he spent seven years in seclusion, intensely studying the kabbalah. He settled (c.1570) at Safed, Palestine, where he became the teacher and leader of a large circle of students who formed an important school of mysticism. Combining messianism with reinterpreted kabbalistic doctrines from an earlier period, Luria sought to understand the nature and connection between earthly redemption and cosmic restoration. Man's deeds, linked to the secret processes of creation and thus an integral part of the cosmic drama, work toward man's redemption by aiding in the restoration of the cosmos to its original state. It is the Jewish people, through their adherence to God's halakah, who will effect this restoration and thereby bring forth the Messiah as the consummate act of earthly redemption. Luria's philosophy has come down to us through the numerous works of his chief disciple, Hayim Vital. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich (mēkhəyēl′ vəsē′lyəvĭch ləmənô′səf), 1711–65, Russian scientist, scholar, and writer, an outstanding figure in 18th-century Russia. Lomonosov was the son of a prosperous fisherman. Concealing his peasant background, he obtained an extraordinarily broad education. He was chosen by the St. Petersburg Academy to study the sciences and philosophy in Germany. In 1741 he received a lifetime appointment to the Russian Academy of Sciences. In his experiments he anticipated such modern principles as the mechanical nature of heat and the kinetic theory of gases. To promote education, Lomonosov wrote a history of Russia (1766) and a Russian grammar (1755). In his poetry he adopted tonic versification, thus altering the character of Russian prosody. For his reform of the Russian literary language he chose an idiom midway between the Old Church Slavonic and spoken Russian. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Logan, James, 1674–1751, American colonial statesman and scholar, b. Ireland. While engaged in the shipping trade, Logan met William Penn and became (1699) his secretary. He emigrated to Philadelphia with Penn and remained his confidential adviser for many years. He served as provincial secretary and clerk of the provincial council, where he was a member from 1702 to 1747. A leader of the aristocratic proprietary party, he often came into bitter conflict with David Lloyd. Logan became mayor of Philadelphia (1722), justice of the court of common pleas (1727), and chief justice of the supreme court (1731). He was acting governor of the province from 1736 to 1738. Logan became very wealthy through land investment and trade with Native Americans. He maintained a large estate, where his hospitality to the Native Americans established their long-lasting friendship with the colony. Logan's wide scholarly interests included botanical research that received recognition from Carolus Linnaeus, who named the genus Logania after him. He was also the author of numerous scientific works, and at his death he left his large library of classical and scientific books to Philadelphia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lipsius, Justus (jŭs′təs lĭp′sēəs), 1547–1606, Flemish scholar, whose original name was Joest Lips. He was one of the most celebrated authorities of his day on Roman literature, history, and antiquities. Lipsius edited many works of Latin literature, his edition of Tacitus being particularly famous. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lightfoot, Joseph Barber, 1828–89, English prelate and scholar. A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, he became Hulsean professor of divinity (1861) and Lady Margaret professor (1875). In 1871 he became a canon of St. Paul's, London; in 1879 he was consecrated bishop of Durham. He was learned in biblical and early Christian literature. From 1870 to 1880 he was one of the revisers of the King James Version of the Bible. He published commentaries (3 vol., 1865–75) on St. Paul's epistles to the Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. His editions of the Apostolic Fathers include Clement of Rome (1869) and Ignatius and Polycarp (1885). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Liddell, Henry George (lĭd′əl), 1811–98, English classical scholar. He was headmaster (1846–55) of Westminster School and dean (1855–91) of Christ Church, Oxford. Liddell is famous for his compilation of the Greek-English Lexicon (with Robert Scott, 1843). It was his daughter, Alice Liddell (d. 1934), for whom Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lepsius, Karl Richard (rĭkh′ärt lĕp′sēŏs), 1810–84, German Egyptologist and philologist. He made an expedition (1842–45) to the Nile valley and Sudan and as a result of his excavations and studies wrote Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien [monuments from Egypt and Ethiopia] (12 vol., 1849–59), which remains an important archaeological work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Leighton, Robert, 1611–84, Scottish prelate and classical scholar. After several years in France, where he seems to have developed an admiration for the Jansenists, he became (1641) a Presbyterian minister in Midlothian and signed the Covenant in 1643 (see Covenanters). A noted preacher, he was made principal of the Univ. of Edinburgh in 1653 and professor of divinity. With the Restoration, Charles II attempted to force episcopacy on the Church of Scotland, and the king persuaded Leighton to accept (1661) the bishopric of Dunblane. Leighton's attempts to find a basis for union between Presbyterianism and episcopacy led to accusations of treason by the Covenanters and to lukewarm feelings on the part of the Episcopal party. Temperamentally unfitted for his work and grieved by the government's persecution of the Covenanters, he tried to resign, only to be appointed (1670) archbishop of Glasgow. In 1674 he retired to private life. Leighton's collected writings, including many of his sermons, appeared posthumously in several editions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Le Clerc, Jean (zhäN lə klĕr′), Latin Johannes Clericus, 1657–1736, Swiss Arminian theologian and biblical scholar. He preached in France and in London, then, drawn to the teachings of the Dutch Remonstrants, settled in Amsterdam, where he became professor in the Remonstrant Seminary. His biblical commentaries pointed the way to scientific criticism. Among his important works are Bibliothèque universelle et historique (1686–93), Bibliothèque choisie (1703–13), and Bibliothèque ancienne et moderne (1714–27). See Remonstrants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lawrence, T. E. (Thomas Edward Lawrence), 1888–1935, British adventurer, soldier, and scholar, known as Lawrence of Arabia. While a student at Oxford he went on a walking tour of Syria and in 1911 joined a British Museum archaeological expedition in Mesopotamia. He remained in the Middle East until 1914, learning colloquial Arabic and making exploratory trips and archaeological surveys. After the outbreak of World War I, Lawrence was attached to the intelligence section of the British army in Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lang, Andrew, 1844–1912, English scholar and man of letters, b. Scotland. His poetry, much of it written in the forms of ballades, triolets, and rondeaux, appeared in such volumes as his Ballads in Blue China (2 vol., 1880–81). Lang was one of the first to apply anthropological findings to the study of myth and folklore; his best work in this field was Myth, Literature, and Religion (1887, rev. ed. 1899). He is known for his prose translations of the Odyssey (with S. H. Butcher, 1879), and the Iliad (with Walter Leaf and Ernest Myers, 1883), and for his defense of the unity of Homer in The World of Homer (1910). With his wife, Leonora Blanche Lang, he translated and adapted traditional stories for children, published in his Blue Fairy Book (1889) and others. Lang also wrote literary and art criticism, a biography of J. G. Lockhart (1896), and several works on Scottish history, culminating in his History of Scotland (4 vol., 1900–1907). His poetical works were edited (1923) by his wife. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kukai or Kobo-Daishi (kōō′kī, kō′bō-dī′shē), 774–835, Japanese priest, scholar, and artist, founder of the Shingon or True Word sect of Buddhism. Of aristocratic birth, he studied the Chinese classics as a young man, but left the university and became a wandering ascetic, eventually making a commitment to Buddhism. He was (804–806) a member of a Japanese embassy to T'ang China, where he studied the Buddhist Tantra. He returned to Japan with many scriptures and art objects and was honored by the emperor. In 816 he founded the Kongobuji monastery on Mt. Koya, S of Kyoto. Kukai is famous as a calligrapher and is said to have invented (on the model of Sanskrit) hiragana, the syllabary in which, in combination with Chinese characters, Japanese is written. Mt. Koya is still a center of pilgrimage, and there is a folk belief that Kukai, who is buried there, is not dead but in deep meditation and will one day rise again. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Krauskopf, Joseph (krous′kŏpf), 1858–1923, American rabbi and humanitarian, b. Prussia. He went to the United States in 1872, enrolling (1875) in the first class of the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, and receiving ordination in 1883. From 1887 until his death he was rabbi of the Congregation Keneseth Israel, Philadelphia, which flourished under his leadership. He was founder and president of the National Farm School at Doylestown, Pa., which opened in 1897, and he studied agricultural conditions in Russia. Krauskopf was a leader of charitable activities and reform movements in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania and a leading spokesman for American Jews. His writings include Evolution and Judaism (1887). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Krapp, George Philip, 1872–1934, American scholar, b. Cincinnati. Krapp joined the faculty of Columbia Univ. in 1897, was professor of English at the Univ. of Cincinnati (1908–10) and at Columbia (1910–34). An authority on Anglo-Saxon, he was the first editor of the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, an edition of the existing body of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Besides his authoritative works Modern English: Its Growth and Present Use (1909) and The English Language in America (1925), Krapp wrote books on English language and literature, speech improvement, and grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kook, Abraham Isaac (kōōk), 1864–1935, Jewish scholar and philosopher, b. Latvia. He settled (1904) in Palestine, where he became the chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in 1921. He attempted to show that Palestine and Zionism were an integral part of Judaism; that those secularist Jews who worked to build up the Jewish homeland were unknowingly doing God's work, which one day would become evident to them; and that nationalism was a necessary step on the way to universalism. He was the author of several books that were influential among Jewish nationalists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kohler, Kaufmann (kouf′mən kō′lər), 1843–1926, American rabbi, scholar, and leader in Reform Judaism, b. Bavaria. He emigrated to the United States in 1869 and served with congregations in Detroit and Chicago before becoming (1879) rabbi of Temple Beth-El in New York City. From 1903 to 1921 he was president of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He called the conference (1885) at which the Pittsburgh Platform of Reformed Judaism was adopted. One of the editors of The Jewish Encyclopedia, he also wrote Backwards or Forwards: Lectures on Reform Judaism (1885), Jewish Theology Systematically and Historically Considered (1918), Heaven and Hell in Comparative Religion (1923), and the Origins of the Synagogue and the Church (1929). His Studies, Addresses, and Personal Papers (1931) contains a short autobiography. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kittredge, George Lyman (kĭ′trĭj), 1860–1941, American scholar, b. Boston. A member of the Harvard faculty (1888–1936), Kittredge was a noted authority on the English language, Shakespeare and Chaucer. His one-volume edition of the complete works of Shakespeare appeared in 1936. He began a more detailed edition of the separate plays in 1939, which was not completed. His books on English include The Mother Tongue (with Sarah Arnold; 1900). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kennicott, Benjamin (kĕn′ĭkət, –kŏt″), 1718–83, English clergyman and biblical scholar. His long career at Oxford was one of devotion to learning. He was rector of Culham, Oxfordshire, from 1753 to 1783. With the aim of preparing an improved Hebrew text of the Old Testament, he secured the assistance of other scholars in the study of Hebrew manuscripts. Besides the many printed editions, 615 Hebrew manuscripts and 16 manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch were collated to produce his edition, the Vetus testamentum Hebraicum cum variis lectionibus (1776–80). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Kennan, George, 1845–1924, American authority on Siberia, b. Norwalk, Ohio. In 1864 he made the first of his journeys to East Asia as an engineer. His articles on Siberia, for many years almost the sole authoritative source of information on that region, were published as Tent Life in Siberia (1870) and Siberia and the Exile System (2 vol., 1891). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Jowett, Benjamin (jō′ət, jou′ət), 1817–93, English educator and Greek scholar, b. London. Jowett was a Church of England clergyman, master of Balliol College, Oxford (1870–93), and vice chancellor of Oxford. His influence on his pupils was profound. Jowett's translation of the dialogues of Plato (1871) is an outstanding work both of English literature and of classical scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

John of Salisbury (sôlz′bərē), c.1110–1180, English scholastic philosopher, b. Salisbury. He studied in France at Paris and Chartres under Abelard and other famous teachers. He was secretary to Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and friend and secretary to St. Thomas à Becket, of whom he wrote a biography. From 1176 to 1180, John was bishop of Chartres. His two main works are the Polycraticus, a treatise on the principles of government, and the Metalogicus, which presents a picture of the intellectual life and the scholastic controversies of the age. He was well acquainted with the Latin classics, and the influence of Platonism on his writing is considerable. He was one of the originators of moderate realism as a solution to the controversy with nominalism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

James, Henry, 1811–82, American student of religion and social problems, b. Albany, N.Y.; father of the philosopher William James and of the novelist Henry James. He rebelled against the strict Calvinist theology of his family and of Princeton Theological Seminary, to which he was sent, and sought a personal solution. Swedenborg's teachings opened for him a way and provided the framework for his own thought as expressed in Substance and Shadow; or, Morality and Religion in Their Relation to Life (1863), Society the Redeemed Form of Man, and the Earnest of God's Omnipotence in Human Nature (1879), and other books. He later developed a social philosophy based upon the principles of Charles Fourier. He was a close friend of many literary figures, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Carlyle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Institut de France (ăNstētü′ də fräNs), cultural institution of the French state. Founded in 1795 by the Directory, it replaced five learned societies that had been suppressed in 1793 by the Convention. These were the French Academy (governing language and literature; founded by Richelieu, granted letters patent 1635); the Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (fine arts; founded 1648 by Charles Le Brun, reorganized 1663 by Colbert); the Académie royale des Inscriptions et Médailles (public inscriptions, medal design, etc.; founded 1663), renamed (1716) the Académie royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres; the Académie royale des Sciences (founded 1666 by Colbert); and the Académie royale d'Architecture (organized 1671 by Colbert). The new organization was called at first Institut national des Sciences et des Arts; the name Académie was not used in the names of the sections because it was considered reactionary. After 1806 the title was changed to Institut de France. Originally the organization was divided into three classes (physical and mathematical sciences, moral and political sciences, literature and fine arts). In 1803 a decree of Napoleon I (a member since 1797) changed the division to four (physical and mathematical sciences, French language and literature, history and ancient literature, and fine arts), suppressing the second class (moral and political sciences) as subversive to the state. In 1816 there was another reorganization, based on the Institut of 1803, and the name Académie was again used in the names of the sections. In 1832, under the influence of Guizot, the second class of the Institut of 1795 was restored as a fifth academy. The Institut de France therefore finally came to be comprised of five academies—the French Academy, the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (history and archaeology), the Académie des Sciences, the Académie des Beaux-Arts, and the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques. Membership in one of the academies does not restrict an individual from being a member of any of the other academies. The academies are self-perpetuating, but the state has the right of veto over their elections. The awards and prizes given by the academies have encouraged endeavor in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Institute for Advanced Study, at Princeton, N.J.; chartered 1930, opened 1933. It differs from a university in that it offers no curriculum or examinations, and confers no degrees. Founded with a gift from Louis Bamberger and Mrs. Felix Fuld as a center for graduate study, it subsequently became a research center for advanced study in mathematics and the natural and social sciences. One of its first members was Albert Einstein. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Innes, Michael, pseud. of John Innes Mackintosh Stewart, 1906–94, British writer and scholar, b. near Edinburgh. From 1969 to 1973 he was a reader in English literature at Oxford. Under his own name he wrote novels, short stories, and such critical studies as Character and Motive in Shakespeare (1949), Rudyard Kipling (1966), and Thomas Hardy (1971). As Michael Innes he wrote more than forty detective stories featuring John Appleby, a gentleman turned policeman. These erudite and witty mysteries include Seven Suspects (1936), A Comedy of Terrors (1940), The Open House (1972), and The Appleby File (1975). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Immanuel ben Solomon, c.1265–c.1330, Hebrew-Italian poet and scholar, b. Rome. He wrote biblical criticism and, in both Hebrew and Italian, satiric verse and lively stories. His work represents a synthesis of Jewish thought and reflects the spirit of Italian Renaissance. His collected poems were printed (1491) under the title Mahberoth Immanuel [the compositions of Immanuel]. His verse was notorious in his day and later for its satiric and erotic content. He introduced the Italian sonnet form into Hebrew poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Holland, Philemon, 1552–1637, English translator and scholar. Educated at Cambridge, he became director of the free school in Coventry, where he also practiced medicine. He was the first English translator of Livy and Septonius, of Plutarch's Morals and Pliny's Natural History, and of Ammianus Marcellinus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hillel, fl. c.30 B.C.–A.D. 10, Jewish scholar, regarded as the forebear of the later patriarchs who led the Jews of Palestine until c.A.D. 400. The Jerusalem Talmud calls him the president of the Sanhedrin. He and Shammai formed the most important of the rabbinic zuggot (oppositional pairs), with Hillel usually taking a more liberal stance in the interpretation of scripture. He was the great spiritual and ethical leader of his generation. His most famous maxim is Do not unto others that which is hateful unto thee. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highet, Gilbert Arthur (hī′ət), 1906–78, American classicist, b. Glasgow, Scotland. In 1951 Highet became a citizen of the United States. He was a professor of Greek and Latin at Columbia Univ. from 1938 to 1950 and Anthon professor of Latin language and literature (1950–72). His writings include The Classical Tradition (1949); The Art of Teaching (1950); Juvenal the Satirist (1954); Poets in a Landscape (1957); The Anatomy of Satire (1962); Vergil's Aeneid (1972). His wife, the novelist Helen MacInnes (məkĭn′əs), 1907–85, b. Glasgow, is noted for her fast-paced, intricately plotted novels of espionage, including Above Suspicion (1941), While Still We Live (1944), Decision at Delphi (1960), The Snare of the Hunter (1974), and Ride a Pale Horse (1984). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hergenröther, Joseph Adam Gustav (yō′zĕf ä′däm gŏs′täf hĕr′gənrötər), 1824–90, German theologian and scholar, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a professor at Munich and Würzburg. In 1879, Leo XIII made him cardinal and first prefect of the newly opened Vatican archives. Hergenröther wrote polemical works and church history. A zealous advocate of ultramontanism, he refuted Döllinger with Anti-Janus (1870, tr. 1870). His historical works include The Catholic Church and the Christian State (1876, tr. 1876) and Manual of Universal Church History (3 vol., 1876–80). His monumental work on Photius, written to dispel charges of papal responsibility for the Eastern schism, is fundamental, but considered by later scholars to be unfair to Photius. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Heinsius, Daniel (dä′nēĕl hīn′sēəs), 1580–1655, Dutch classicist. One of the most famous Renaissance scholars, he edited many Latin works, composed fine Latin poetry, and wrote in Dutch as well. His son Nikolaas Heinsius, 1620–81, rivaled his father as an author and editor of Latin poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Harrison, Jane Ellen, 1850–1928, English classical scholar. She applied archaeological discoveries in the interpretation of Greek religion. Her works include Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1903), Themis (1912), Ancient Art and Ritual (1913), and Epilegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1921). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Harper, William Rainey, 1856–1906, American educator and Hebrew scholar, b. New Concord, Ohio, grad. Muskingum College, 1870, Ph.D. Yale, 1875. The author of many texts on Hebrew language and literature, Harper taught Hebrew at Baptist Union Theological Seminary in Chicago after 1879 and also gave (after 1883) courses at Chautauqua Institution. In 1886 he went to Yale as professor of Semitic languages, resigning in 1891 to become first president of the Univ. of Chicago. With vast funds at his disposal, Harper was able to recruit an outstanding faculty. He was committed to fostering advanced instruction and research in his university and maintained a policy whereby promotion for members of the faculty was directly related to their scholarly research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hales, John, 1584–1656, English clergyman and scholar, often alluded to as the Ever-Memorable. He won distinction by his lectures on Greek at Oxford, his preaching, and his writings. From 1613 to 1649 he held a fellowship at Eton College. As chaplain to Sir Dudley Carleton, he was an observer at the Synod of Dort (1618–19), an important meeting of Calvinists. Hales's tolerance in religion found expression in Schism and Schismatics, published anonymously (and without consent) in 1642. Archbishop Laud in 1639 made Hales a canon of Windsor, but he was ejected from that post in 1642 and from his Eton fellowship in 1649. His remaining years, under the Commonwealth, were spent in obscurity and poverty. In the Golden Remains of the Ever Memorable Mr. John Hales (1659), with a preface by John Pearson, are included a number of his writings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Guo Moruo or Kuo Mo-jo (both: gwô′ môrhwô′, –zhô′), 1892–1978, Chinese writer and scholar. He co-founded the Creation Society, which promoted a romantic style of writing. His love stories and experiments in free verse, particularly his poetry collection The Goddesses (1921), won immediate popularity. He wrote several historical plays, notably Ch'ü Yüan (1942), about the dissident poet of the 4th-century B.C.; Guo, an avowed Marxist, wrote it while living in territory controlled by the Nationalist Party. He also wrote numerous studies on Chinese archaeology, history, and literature. He served as a prominent government official from 1949 until his death. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Grenfell, Bernard Pyne (grĕn′fĕl), 1869–1926, English classical scholar and Egyptologist. With Arthur Surridge Hunt he discovered at Oxyrhynchus the Logia of Jesus (see Agrapha of Jesus). He became in 1908 professor of papyrology at Oxford and helped edit the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (9 vol., 1897–1912) and other similar works. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gratian, fl. 1140, Italian legal scholar, founder of the science of canon law. Almost nothing is known of his life beyond the fact that he was a monk, almost certainly Camaldolite, and that he taught at the convent of saints Felix and Nabor (San Felice) in Bologna. He was apparently very learned in scholasticism and Roman law. His great work, commonly known as the Decretum, appeared c.1140. It is a synthesis of church law, divided into three parts: the first deals with sources and principles of canon law and with ecclesiastical persons; the second, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction and property and to some extent with marriage and penance; the third, with sacraments and liturgy. Gratian, by his method, makes the compilation a systematic treatise; his commentaries, the dicta Gratiani, make up a large part of the work. The Decretum was used by the later popes and became the kernel of the Corpus juris canonici. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Grassmann, Hermann Günther (hĕr′män gün′tər gräs′män), 1809–77, German mathematician and Sanskrit scholar, educated in Berlin. He invented a new algebra of vectors (somewhat similar to quaternions), presented in his book Die Ausdehnungslehre (1844, 4th ed. 1969). He composed a translation of the Rig-Veda (1876–77). The linguistic law reformulated by (and named for) him holds that in Indo-European bases, especially in Sanskrit and Greek, successive syllables may not begin with aspirates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gottheil, Richard James Horatio, 1862–1936, American Orientalist and Semitic scholar, b. Manchester, England; son of Gustav Gottheil. He taught Semitic languages at Columbia from 1886 and was head of the Oriental department of the New York Public Library from 1896. An ardent Zionist, he was interested in the rebuilding of Palestine and was head (1909–10) of the American School of Archaeology at Jerusalem. His contributions to the study of Syriac are noteworthy. His works include The Syriac Grammar of Mar Elia of Zobha (1887); The Syriac-Arabic Glosses of Isha bar Ali (1908–28); many articles in The Jewish Encyclopedia, of which he was an editor; and a biography of his father (1936). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Godefroy (gôdfrwä′), family of French scholars. Denis Godefroy, 1549–1622, was a Calvinist who fled (c.1580) to Geneva and later became a professor of law at Strasbourg and Heidelberg. He compiled an edition (1583) of the Corpus Juris Civilis, which may be called the first modern edition. His son, Théodore Godefroy, 1580–1649, became a Roman Catholic, was royal historiographer of France, and took part in the negotiation of the Peace of Westphalia. Another son, Jacques Godefroy, 1587–1622, remained a Calvinist and was professor of law at Geneva. His edition of the Theodosian Code (1665) is one of the masterpieces of legal scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gesenius, Wilhelm (vĭl′hĕlm gāzā′nyŏs), 1786–1842, German Orientalist, one of the greatest Hebrew and biblical scholars. He is principally known for his Hebrew Grammar, which has been reedited so many times that it differs widely from his original. Perhaps his finest work was his biblical commentary. He was, in this, a moderate rationalist, and he aroused bitter opposition. He was one of the first to open Semitic to scientific study, because of his point of view that Hebrew and its sister languages were not sacrosanct, as most contemporary Christians thought them to be. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gershom ben Judah (gr′shəm bĕn jōō′də), c.965–c.1040?, rabbi, religious poet, and scholar. He was also called Me'or ha-Golah [light of the exile]. He lived his entire adult life in Mainz, Germany (now in France), where he founded a Talmudic academy. He played an important role in the formation of an Ashkenazic tradition of learning and communal organization. He wrote commentaries on the Talmud, liturgical poetry, and numerous responsa. He is famous for his highly influential edict against polygamy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

George of Trebizond (trĕb′ĭzŏnd), c.1396–1486, Greek scholar, b. Crete. Settling in Venice, he taught Greek, philosophy, and rhetoric there and in Vicenza before going to Rome in 1442. He became known as a translator of Aristotle and enjoyed the favor of popes Eugene IV, Nicholas V, and Paul II. He made translations of Plato and translated some Greek church writings into Latin. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gemistus Pletho, Georgius (jôr′jəs jĭmĭs′təs plē′thō), c.1355–1452, Byzantine scholar and philosopher, b. Constantinople. He represented the Orthodox Eastern Church at the Council of Florence in 1439, led Cosimo de' Medici to found the Florentine Academy, and inspired the enthusiastic study of Plato that characterized the Italian Renaissance. In his Laws he advocated a polytheism similar to that of the ancient Greeks. He rejected Aristotle's criticisms of Plato but did not always distinguish Plato's doctrine from the Neoplatonic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Geiger, Abraham (gī′gər), 1810–74, German rabbi, Semitic scholar and Orientalist, theologian, and foremost exponent of the Reform movement in Judaism. When he received his doctorate (1833) from the Univ. of Bonn, he was already a rabbi in Wiesbaden. He sought to remove all nationalistic elements from Judaism (particularly the Chosen People doctrine) and to emphasize the Jewish mission to spread monotheism and moral law. He shortened the prayerbook, permitted instrumental music in the synagogue, abolished the second days of holidays, and advocated prayer in the vernacular. However, he opposed Sunday worship and refused to serve any congregation that broke with the established Jewish community. In 1870 he became chief rabbi of the Berlin congregations and director of the newly established seminary for the scientific study of Judaism. He was a prolific writer. His great work is Urschrift und übersetzungen der Bibel [text and translations of the Bible] (1857). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gaza, Theodore (gā′zə, gä′–), c.1398–c.1478, Greek scholar, b. Salonica. When the Turks attacked Constantinople, he went to Italy, where he became one of the greatest classical scholars and humanists of the Renaissance. His patrons included the Este family, Pope Nicholas V, and Cardinal Bessarion. Gaza was responsible for spreading Greek learning from Ferrara, Rome, and Naples. His Greek grammar was printed by Aldus Manutius in 1495. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]