Johann Wilhelm Adolf Kirchhoff (6 January 1826 – 26 February 1908) was a
German classical scholar and
epigraphist.
Biography
The son of historical painter Johann Jakob Kirchhoff, he was born in
Berlin, and educated there. He then taught in various colleges until, in 1865, he was appointed professor of classical
philology at the
University of Berlin, where he remained for the rest of his life. Kirchhoff's scientific studies covered a wide range in linguistics, antiquities, and Greek epigraphy. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1888.[1]
Writings
Die Homerische Odyssee (1859), putting forward an entirely new theory as to the composition of the Odyssey
Xenophon, Respublica Atheniensium (On the Athenian Constitution; 3rd ed., 1889)
Über die Entstehungszeit des Herodotischen Geschichtswerkes (2nd ed., 1878)
Thukydides und sein Urkundenmaterial (1895).
The following works are the result of his epigraphical and
palaeographical studies:
Die Umbrischen Sprachdenkmäler (1851)
Das Stadtrecht von Bantia (1853), on the tablet discovered in 1790 at Oppido near
Banzi, containing a
plebiscite relating to the municipal affairs of the ancient
Bantia (the
Stadtrecht)
Das Gotische Runenalphabet (1852)
Die Fränkischen Runen (1855)
Studien zur Geschichte des Griechischen Alphabets (4th ed., 1887).
The second part of vol. iv. of the Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum (1859, containing the
Christian inscriptions) and vol. i. of the Corpus Inscriptionum Atticarum (1873, containing the inscriptions before 403) with supplements thereto (vol. iv. pts. 13, 1877–1891) are edited by him. From 1860 to 1902, he was in charge of the Inscriptiones Graecae. He edited Hermes (1866–81).