Martin Luther D'Ooge came from a Huguenot family, who emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States of America around 1851 and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father Leonard was a teacher; his mother was born Johanna Quintus. His younger brother was the philologist . D'Ooge studied Classical Philology at the University of Michigan, to which he remained connected all his life. After being awarded his Bachelor's degree in 1862, he became headmaster of the Ann Arbor High School in 1863, a position he held until 1865. From 1864 to 1867 he studied theology at the Union Theological Seminary, by which he was awarded a Master's degree in 1865. In 1867 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Ancient Languages at Michigan State Normal School. However, he left after only one year, returning to the University of Michigan as Acting Professor of Greek language and literature. In 1870 he was appointed full Professor and received a two-year sabbatical, which he used for a long educational trip to Germany. There he deepened his knowledge, studying under the philologists Georg Curtius and Justus Hermann Lipsius, and with them was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1872. On his return to the US, D'Ooge resumed his teaching activities at the University of Michigan. From 1889 to 1897 he was the Dean of the College of Literature and Science. During his career in Michigan, D'Ooge also participated in scientific associations. In 1869, he was a founder member of the American Philological Association, and its president in 1883/84. In 1886/87 he was the yearly-appointed director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. From 1889 to 1897 he was Dean of the College of Literature and Science. He retired in 1912.
D'Ooge's scientific work began in Leipzig after his studies. He wrote several studies on the Attic speaker Demosthenes and on Sophocles, as well as editions of Demosthenes' speech On the Crown in 1875, and Sophocles' Antigone. After a stay in Athens, he prepared a book on the Acropolis, which appeared in 1908. His last work was a translation of the Introduction to the Arithmetic by the Greek mathematician Nicomachos of Gerasa, published posthumously in 1926. D'Ooge's scientific estate is held by the Bentley Historical Library.
On the use of the suffixes τερ, τορ, τηρ, τα in Homer. Leipzig.
The oration of Demosthenes On the Crown. With extracts from the oration of Aeschines against Ctesiphon, and explanatory notes. Chicago.
Sophocles: Antigone. Edited on the basis of Wolff’s edition by M.L. D'Ooge. Boston.
