Friedrich Christian Diez

Friedrich Christian Diez (15 March 1794 – 29 May 1876) was a German philologist. The two works on which his fame rests are the Grammar of the Romance Languages (published 1836-1844), and the Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages (1853, and later editions). He spent most of his career at University of Bonn.

Diez was born at Giessen, in Hessen-Darmstadt. He was educated first at the gymnasium and then at the university of his native town and Göttingen. There he studied classics under Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker who had just returned from a two years' residence in Italy to fill the chair of archaeology and Greek literature. It was Welcker who kindled in him a love of Italian poetry, and thus gave the first outlet to his genius. In 1813 he joined the Hesse corps as a volunteer and served in the French campaign. Next year he returned to his books, and this short taste of military service was the only break in a long and uneventful life of literary labours.

At his parents' desire he applied himself for a short time to law, but a visit to Goethe in 1818 gave a new direction to his studies, and determined his future career. Goethe had been reading Raynouard's Selections from the Romance Poets, and advised the young scholar to explore the rich mine of Provençal literature which the French savant had opened up. This advice was eagerly followed, and henceforth Diez devoted himself to Romance literature. He thus became the founder of Romance philology.

After supporting himself for some years by private teaching, he moved in 1822 to University of Bonn, where he held the position of privatdozent. In 1823 he published his first work, An Introduction to Romance Poetry; in the following year appeared The Poetry of the Troubadours, and in 1829 The Lives and Works of the Troubadours. In 1830 he was called to the chair of modern literature.

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