Ritschl Friedrich Wilhelm

Ritschl, Friedrich Wilhelm (1806-76), philologist, was born in Thuringia, and educated at Erfurt and Wittenberg. He made a special study of classical philology, took his degree in 1829, and became a professor at Breslau in 1833. After a tour through Italy he received the appointment of professor of classical literature at Bonn, and between 1848-54 published what is considered his greatest work, his edition of Plautus, remarkable for its wealth of learning and acumen. In 1854 he was made chief librarian and director of the Art Museum and Museum of Antiquities, and in 1865 removed to Leipsic as professor of philology. He was eminent for his knowledge of Latin inscriptions, and his work on that subject (1862) is of great value. As a teacher, too, he was noteworthy, it being calculated that forty of his pupils became famous German savants.