Friedrich August Wolf (1759–1824)

The German classicist and critic Friedrich August Wolf (1759–1824) is known to posterity less for his writings than for his lasting influence in establishing the classics – "philology" – as a recognized academic discipline in a humanistic tradition. In doing so, he altered the course of secondary and tertiary education in Germany for at least the next century. Among his writings, Prolegomena ad Homerum is the best known, for applying the critical methods to the genesis of the works of Homer and questioning the sole authorship of an individual of that name.

Ernst Ludwig Riepenhausen (1762–1840), Portrait of Friedrich August Wolf, copperplate engraving, ca. 1800; source: Universitätsbibliothek Salzburg, Graphiksammlung, G 1442 I/2, http://www.ubs.sbg.ac.at/sosa/graphiken/G1442I03.jpg.