Johannes Sturm

Johannes Sturm
Johannes Sturm
	Schola Argentoratensis
Notable students	Martin Crusius; Petrus Ramus

Johannes Sturm (also known as Jean Sturm;

Protestant reformer, who was influential in the design of the gymnasium

system of secondary education.

Biography

Sturm was born in

Roman Catholic parties in 1534.^[1]

At the urging of Bucer and the unrelated statesman

Schola Argentoratensis (now called Jean Sturm Gymnasium), there, which provided the model for the modern German gymnasium. He directed the school for 43 years, and the school attained a wide celebrity, becoming an influential model for humanistic

gymnasia especially in Germany.

He undertook diplomatic missions on behalf of Strassburg, the Protestant estates and the king of France. He attended the conferences at

Lutherans.^[1]

Sturm was often asked to advise on the creation or reform of schools, among others the gymnasium at Lauingen (1564). His influence is seen in the school regulations of Württemberg (1559), Brunswick (1569), and Saxony (1580).

After the death of

Jakob Andrea; Sturm opposed them vigorously and vituperatively. Sturm was relieved of his position in 1581 and retired to Northeim.^[1]

He died in Strassburg in 1589.

Legacy

Sturm was generally regarded as the greatest educator connected with the

Reformed Church. The school he directed and his art of teaching were a humanist model for a century all over Europe. His ideal in education was "to direct the aspiration of the scholars toward God, to develop their intelligence, and to render them useful citizens by teaching them the skill to communicate their thoughts and sentiments with persuasive effect." Sturm's emphasis on eloquence and rhetoric is reflected in the readings prescribed for students: Cicero, Virgil's Eclogues, selections of Latin poetry, and Terence form the Latin syllabus, and in Greek the focus is on Demosthenes

and other rhetoricians. The Greek and Latin historians, philosophers and natural scientists appear on the reading lists only occasionally.

Sturm implemented a gradation of the course of study, and novel methods of instruction. His system of classes (practically the same that still prevailed in all gymnasia some centuries later), his classification of literary material for use in schools, his writing of textbooks, and his organization of school management shaped the practice of secondary education, not only in the German schools, but also in secondary schools of England and France. His collection of Cicero's letters is recommended by Roger Ascham in his "The Scholemaster".

In addition to the Jean Sturm Gymnasium, Foyer Jean-Sturm, a modern student dormitory in Strasbourg, also bears his name.

Notes

^
New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) [1]

References

New International Encyclopedia

(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

New International Encyclopedia

(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Sturm, Johannes" . Encyclopedia Americana.

External links

Johannes Sturm at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
The Gymnasium today Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine

[SH-1] 
New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) [1]

[1]

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