Georg Wissowa

Georg Otto August Wissowa (June 17, 1859 - May 11, 1931) was a German classical philologist who was born in Neudorf, near Breslau.

Wissowa studied at the University of Breslau, and in 1886 became a professor at the University of Marburg, and in 1895 a professor at the University of Halle.

Wissowa was a specialist in the study of ancient Roman religion. He is remembered today for re-edition of "Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft", which was an encyclopedia of classical studies started by August Friedrich Pauly (1796-1845) in 1839. In 1890 Wissowa began the new edition, an ambitious project that he anticipated would take ten years to finish. However, it wouldn't be until the 1970s that the last of its 83 volumes was published.

Another important work by Wissowa was a 1902 book on Roman religion titled "Religion und Kultus der Römer", in which he explores the development of Roman religion, and provides a comprehensive description of its deities and religious practices. Wissowa also published a revision of Ludwig Friedländer's moral history of Rome called "Sittengeschichte Roms", and worked on Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher's encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology, "Ausführlichem Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie".

References

* [http://www.bookrags.com/research/wissowa-georg-eorl-14/ Biography of Georg Wissowa @ Bookrags.com]