Grimm, Jacob Ludwig Karl

LINGUIST (GERMANY)
BORN 4 Jan 1785, Hanau, Hessen - DIED 20 Sep 1863, Berlin
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Alter St. Matthäus Friedhof, Grossgörschenstrasse 12 (F-s-1/14)

Son of a lawyer. He was educated at Kassel before he studied Law at Marbug. In the library of his teacher Friedrich Karl von Savigny he first became interested in old German manuscripts. In 1805 Savigny asked him to join him in Paris. There he supported Savigny and studied medieval literature in the libraries. He returned to Germany at the end of the year.

In 1808 he became the librarian of the new king Jerôme Bonaparte. After Napoleon's fall he was sent to Paris to retrieve German books and in in 1814/1815 he was a secretary of legislation at the Congress of Vienna.

In 1828 he moved to Göttingen together with his brother Wilhelm. There he became professor and librarian. He had a strong memory and usually spoke without notes. But his teachings were too difficult and too dry for his students. He was among the professors who protested against the abrogation of the constitution and he was banished from the kingdom of Hanover in 1837.

In 1840 the king of Prussia invited the brothers to come to Berlin, where he and Wilhelm both became professors. He worked with Wilhelm on a dictionary. He worked hard, paused seldom and was hardly ever ill. Wilhelm died in 1869 and Jacob in 1863.

Works: "Deutsche Mythologie" (1835); "Deutsches Wörterbuch" (1854).

Related persons
• is brother/sister of Grimm, Ludwig Emil
• is brother/sister of Grimm, Wilhelm Karl
• was teacher of Kemble, John Mitchell

Images

The graves of the brothers Grimm and two of their sons at the Alter St. Matthäusfriedhof, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (21 Aug 1996)

 

Statue of Wilhelm Grimm and Jakob Grimm in Kassel.
Picture by Androom (26 Aug 2017)

 

Sources
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Jacob Grimm - Wikipedia (EN)


Grimm, Ludwig Emil

Published: 11 Oct 2008
Last update: 25 Apr 2022