Leonhard von Spengel


Leonhard von Spengel was a German classical scholar.

Biography

He attended the lyceum in his hometown, where as a pupil of Joseph Kopp and Johann von Gott Fröhlich, he was encouraged to study philology. After taking the examination for secondary school teachers in 1823, he furthered his studies in classical philology at the universities of Leipzig and Berlin, receiving his PhD at the University of Munich in 1827. He became known through his edition of Varro's De Lingua Latina and subsequently was appointed lector. As a university student his influences were Gottfried Hermann and August Boeckh and Immanuel Bekker. He turned down an offer of a professorship from the University of Kiel, and from 1830 taught classes as a gymnasium professor in Munich. From 1842 to 1847 he was professor at Heidelberg, and afterwards returned to Munich as a university professor.
In 1841 he became a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
in Munich

Published works

Among his publications were his edition of the Ars Rhetorica ad Alexandrum, which, following Petrus Victorius, he attributed to Anaximenes of Lampsacus, his edition of the Rhetoric of Aristotle, and his text edition of the Rhetores Grœci. His address Ueber das Studium der Rhetorik bei den Alten is a valuable outline sketch of the art of eloquence in classical times.