Jan de Vries (philologist)
Jan de Vries | |
---|---|
Born | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 11 February 1890
Died | 23 July 1964 Utrecht, Netherlands | (aged 74)
Spouse | Maria Machteld Vogel
(m. 1915) |
Children | 3 |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Thesis | Studiën over Faerörsche balladen (1915) |
Doctoral advisor | Richard Constant Boer |
Influences | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Philology |
Sub-discipline |
|
Institutions | University of Leiden |
Main interests |
|
Notable works |
|
Influenced |
Jan Pieter Marie Laurens de Vries (11 February 1890 – 23 July 1964) was a Dutch philologist, linguist, religious studies scholar, folklorist, educator, writer, editor and public official who specialized in
A
De Vries
Early life
Jan Pieter Marie Laurens de Vries was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 11 February 1890.[2] He was the son of the teacher Laurens de Vries, and Anthonetta Christina Vermast.[3]
After having graduated from the
De Vries was drafted into the
Career at the University of Leiden
In 1926, de Vries was appointed Chair of
At Leiden, de Vries distinguished himself as a teacher, organizer and scholar of unusual ability and productivity.[3] Students of de Vries would later describe him as a brilliant teacher, and his ability in this regard is substantiated by the large number of influential doctoral thesises that were completed under his supervision.[4] He was a gifted and highly productive writer, with an unusual ability to analyze and present difficult problems in a clear manner. This enabled him to write a number of successful works intended for popular audiences.[4]
De Germaansche Oudheid (1930) by de Vries introduced the ancient Germanic peoples to the Dutch public, and was a great success. It was later published in a second edition under title De Germanen (1941).[3] He was the editor and driving force behind the fifth edition of Winkler Prins's Algemene Encyclopedie (General Encyclopedia), which was published in 16 volumes in 1932–1938.[2] From 1934 to 1939, de Vries was chairman of the prestigious Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.[5]
By the early 1930s, de Vries was recognized as the world's foremost authority on Germanic religion. As such, de Vries was requested to write the volume on Germanic religion for Hermann Paul's Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie. The resulting Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (1935-1937) was published in German in two volumes.[4] In Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, de Vries expressed opposition to Nordicism and doubts about the continuity of Germanic culture up until modern times, which put him at odds with the dominant Nazi ideology in Germany at the time.[4] His translation of the Edda was published in 1938, and reprinted in 1971.[3] It has been described as "a small literary masterpiece".[6] In 1938, with sponsorship from the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde and the Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, he established the Bibliotheek der Nederlandsche letteren, a series of Dutch literary works.[2]
During the 1930s, de Vries argued strongly in favor of establishing
World War II
During the
De Vries' most important work produced during the war is his two-volume Altnordische Literaturgeschichte (1941-1942).[3] It provides a general literary history of Old Norse literature.[4]
It eventually became clear that the German position in the war was losing and the Netherlands was likely to revert to Allied control. In September 1944, de Vries and his family fled to Leipzig, Germany.[3]
Post-war career
On 27 February 1946 de Vries was dismissed from the University of Leiden due his political beliefs. He was also expelled from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.[3][7] De Vries was eventually arrested and interned in Vught from 10 October 1946. In May–June 1948, the Bijzonder Gerechtshof found de Vries guilty of "intellectual collaboration", and deprived him of the right to vote and hold political office.[3]
Jan de Vries (1890-1964) is usually considered the greatest
social scientists of his generation.[8]
—
After his release from prison, de Vries had no income, and was thus permitted to resume working as a secondary school teacher in Dutch literature in Oostburg. The decision to permit de Vries to work again was met with criticism due to his past political crimes.[3] After retiring from teaching in 1955, de Vries resumed his scholarly work. Although he lived in almost complete isolation and had lost his entire library during the war, this was a time of remarkable productivity for him.[3] In 1956–1957, he published a second revised edition of Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, which remains his most famous and influential work.[2] In this second revised edition, de Vries lent critical support to the trifunctional hypothesis of Georges Dumézil.[4] Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte has constituted the standard work on Germanic (including Old Norse) religion up to the present day.[4][9][10]
After his relocation to Utrecht in 1957, a number of important works were published, including Kelten und Germanen (1960), Keltische Religionsgeschichte (1961) and Forschungsgeschichte der Mythologie (1961).[2] His Altnordisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (1961) was finally published after many years of work.[3] Towards the end of his life, de Vries worked mainly on his Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek (1961-1971). He died in Utrecht on 23 July 1964.[3]
Legacy
Altnordische Literaturgeschichte by de Vries was published in a second revised edition in 1964–1967.[3] It has remained the standard work on Old Norse literature up to the present day.[4]
The remaining volumes of Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek were completed by F. de Tollenaere.
Personal life
De Vries married Maria Machteld Vogel on 10 October 1915. Together they had three children, two girls and one boy.[3]
Selected works
- Studiën over Færösche Balladen, diss. Amsterdam, 1915; Heidelberg: Rother, 1922.
- De Wikingen in de lage landen bij de zee, Haarlem, 1923.
- translation: Henrik Ibsen, Zes Voordrachten, Maastricht, 1924.
- De Germaansche Oudheid, Haarlem, 1930.
- Contributions to the Study of Othin: Especially in his Relation to Agricultural Practices in Modern Popular Lore, FFC 94, Helsinki, 1931.
- The Problem of Loki, FFC 110, Helsinki, 1932.
- Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, 2 vols. Vol. 1, (Grundriß der Germanischen Philologie 12.1), Berlin-Leipzig: de Gruyter, 1935, 2nd rev. ed. 1956, Vol. 2 (Grundriß der Germanischen Philologie 12.2), Berlin-Leipzig: de Gruyter, 1937, 2nd rev. ed. 1957 (3rd ed. 1970, repr. 2000).
- Wulfilae Codices Ambrosiani Rescripti, Epistularum Evangelicarum Textum Goticum Exhibentes, Phototypice editi et prooemio instructi a Jano de Vries, Bibliothecae Ambrosianae Codices quam simillime expressi, 3 vols., Turin, 1936.
- Edda, vertaald en van inleidingen voorzien, Amsterdam, 1938, 2nd rev. ed. Amsterdam, 1942, (3rd ed. 1943, 4th ed. 1944, 5th ed. 1952, 6th ed. 1978, 7th ed. 1980, 8th ed. 1988).
- De Germaansche Oudheid, 1930; rev. ed. as De Germanen, Haarlem, 1941.
- De Wetenschap der Volkskunde (Hoekstenen onzer Volkskultuur 1), Amsterdam, 1941.
- Altnordische Literaturgeschichte, 2 vols. Vol. 1 (Grundriß der germanischen Philologie 15), Berlin-Leipzig: de Gruyter, 1941, 2nd rev. ed. 1964 repr. 1970, Vol. 2 (Grundriß der germanischen Philologie 16), Berlin: de Gruyter, 1942, rev. ed. 1967 repr. 1970 (3rd ed. 1 vol. 1999 ISBN 3-11-016330-6).
- Die Geistige Welt der Germanen, Halle a.d. Saale: Niemeyer, 1943 (2nd ed. 1945, 3rd ed. Darmstadt, 1964).
- De Goden der Germanen, Amsterdam, 1944.
- Het Nibelungenlied, 2 vols. Vol 1 Sigfried, de Held van Nederland, Vol. 2 Kriemhilds Wraak, Antwerp, 1954.
- Etymologisch Woordenboek: Waar komen onze woorden en plaatsnamen vandaan?, Utrecht-Antwerp, 1958, 2nd rev. ed. 1959.
- Heldenlied en Heldensage, Utrecht-Antwerp, 1959; tr. as Heroic Song and Heroic Legend, Oxford, 1963.
- Kelten und Germanen (Bibliotheca Germanica 9), Bern, 1960.
- Altnordisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, Leiden, 1961 (2nd ed. 1963).
- Keltische Religion, (Die Religionen der Menschheit 18), Stuttgart, 1961.
- Godsdienstgeschiedenis in Vogelvlucht, Utrecht-Antwerp, 1961.
- Forschungsgeschichte der Mythologie, (Orbis Academicus 1.7), Freiburg, 1961.
- Woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandse Plaatsnamen, Utrecht-Antwerp, 1962.
See also
- Hector Munro Chadwick
- Gabriel Turville-Petre
- Sophus Bugge
- Magnus Olsen
- Birger Nerman
- Rudolf Much
- Otto Höfler
- Werner Betz
- Rudolf Simek
- René Derolez
- Gudmund Schütte
- Lee M. Hollander
- Winfred P. Lehmann
- Edgar C. Polomé
- Leo Weisgerber
- Vilhelm Grønbech
- Hermann Güntert
- Franz Rolf Schröder
- Wolfgang Krause
- Einar Haugen
References
- ^ Bolle 1965, p. 173.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bolle 2005, pp. 9643–9644.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t van der Hoeven 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Quak 2006, pp. 651–654.
- ^ a b c d e f g h van der Stroom 2010.
- ^ Bolle 1965, p. 174.
- ^ "Jan P.M.L. de Vries (1890 - 1964)" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ^ social scientistsof his generation."
- ^ Price 2019, p. 158. "In 1957 the second edition of de Vries’ Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte appeared, extensively revised and with an expanded section on seiðr. Although it was revised again in 1970, with fewer changes, this work remains even now the single most comprehensive study of Norse religion, at over 1000 pages of outstanding scholarship."
- ^ Arvidsson 2017, p. 77.
Sources
- S2CID 161502970. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ISBN 0-02-865983-X.
- van der Hoeven, H. (November 12, 2013) [1985]. "Vries, Jan Pieter Marie Laurens de (1890-1964)". Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (in Dutch). Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- van der Stroom, Gerrold (January 2010). "Vries, Jan Pieter Marie Laurens de". Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- Quak, Arend (2006). "Vries". Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (in German). Vol. 32. ISBN 978-3-11-018387-0.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-9189116931.
- Walter de Gruyter. pp. 1961–1962.
- Kylstra, Andries Dirk (1989). "J. de V. und die erste Aufl. seiner Altgermanischen Religionsgeschichte". Rodopi. pp. 97–108.
- Kylstra, Andries Dirk (1998). "VRIES, Jan de". Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (in German). Vol. 13. pp. 108–117.
- Meertens, Piet (1964). "Jan de Vries". Volkskunde. 65: 97–113.
- ISBN 978-1842172605.
- Würth, Stefanie (1999). "Vorwort zum Nachdruck" [Preface To Reprint] (PDF). Altnordische Literaturgeschichte [Old Norse Literary History]. Grundriß Der Germanischen Philologie (in German). Vol. 15–16 (3 ed.). ISBN 3-11-080481-6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-09-30.