David Ruhnken

David Ruhnken (2 January 1723 – 14 May 1798) was a Dutch

Origins

Ruhnken was born in

As Ruhnken's reputation spread, many efforts were made to attract him back to Germany, but after settling in Leiden, he only left the country once, when he spent a year in Paris, ransacking the public libraries (1755). For work achieved, this year of Ruhnken may compare even with the famous year which Ritschl spent in Italy.^[1]

In 1757 Ruhnken was appointed lecturer in Greek, to assist Hemsterhuis, and in 1761 he succeeded Oudendorp, with the title of "ordinary professor of history and eloquence", as Latin professor. This promotion attracted the enmity of some native Netherlanders, who deemed themselves more worthy of the chair of Latin. Ruhnken's defence was to publish works on Latin literature which eclipsed and silenced his rivals.^[1]

In 1766

Soon after his Ruhnken's death, his pupil Wyttenbach wrote his biography.^[2] He wrote that Ruhnken was not a recluse or a pedant, but was sociable and cared nothing for rank. Wyttenbach said of him in his early days that he knew how to sacrifice to the Sirens without proving traitor to the Muses. Life in the open air had a great attraction for him; he was fond of sport, and would sometimes devote to it two or three days in the week. In his bearing towards other scholars Ruhnken was generous and dignified, distributing literary aid with a free hand, and meeting onslaughts for the most part with a smile. In the records of learning he occupies an important position, as a principal link in the chain which connects Bentley with the modern scholarship of the European Continent. The spirit and the aims of Hemsterhuis, the great reviver of Continental learning, were committed to his trust, and were faithfully maintained. He greatly widened the circle of those who valued taste and precision in classical scholarship. He powerfully aided the emancipation of Greek studies from theology.^[1] Ruhnken was one of the first scholars of the 18th century to study and interpret Plato's writings in ancient Greek rather than interpreting Plato's works through the prisms of translations by others.^[1]

Works

Ruhnken's principal works are editions of:^[1]

1. Timaeus's Lexicon of Platonic Words (1st ed. 1754 with commentary; 2nd ed. 1789; there appeared a revision of the second edition by Georg Aenotheus Koch in 1828)
2. Thalelaeus and other Greek commentators on Roman law
3. Rutilius Lupus and other grammarians
4. Velleius Paterculus
5. the works of Muretus.

He also occupied himself much with the history of Greek literature, particularly the oratorical literature, with the

References

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•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith Reid, James (1911). "Ruhnken, David". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.