Gervinns Georg Gottlieb

Gervinns, Georg Gottlieb (1805-1871), a German political and literary historian, was born at Darmstadt. In 1825 he went to Giessen to study philology, and in 1826 to Heidelberg, where he took Schlosser as his model. Between 1828 and 1830 he brought out an edition of Thucydides, and gave notes upon Blomfield's translation of the same author. In 1832 he went to Italy as travelling tutor to a young Englishman. In 1833 he wrote some historical treatises, and was made professorttraordinary, and was appointed professor at Gottingen, after the publication of a work upon the poetical literature of Germany. In 1837 appeared his Grundziige der Historik, and in 1844 he. was appointed honorary professor at Heidelberg. In 1847 he aided in founding the Deutsche Zeitung. He was a deputy to the National Assembly in 1848, and the hesitation of the then reigning Hohenzollern to adopt the views which were dear to Gervinus implanted in him a hatred of the dynasty which was never overcome, in spite of the events of 1866 and 1870. He retired into private life, and busied himself about his Shakespeare, which is highly esteemed in Germany, and has been translated into English. He also wrote a History of German Literate, and laid himself open to a charge of high treason and was condemned, but the sentence was quashed upon appeal. He also wrote a comparison between Handel and Shakespeare, which hardly found favour with his fellow-countrymen; but the History of German Poetry is generally considered his best work.