Michael Denis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Denis
|
|
|---|---|
Michael Denis
|
|
| Born |
Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis
27 September 1729 Schärding, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire
|
| Died | 29 September 1800 (aged 71) Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, Holy Roman Empire
|
| Other names | Sined the Bard |
| Occupation | Austrian Catholic priest, Jesuit entomologist and writer |
Johann Nepomuk Cosmas Michael Denis (born September 27, 1729 – died September 29, 1800) was an important Austrian figure. He was also known as Sined the Bard. Michael Denis was a Catholic priest and a member of the Jesuit order. He is remembered for his poetry, his work with books, and his study of butterflies and moths.
Contents
Michael Denis's Early Life
Michael Denis was born in 1729 in a town called Schärding. This town was located on the Inn River in what is now Austria. His father, Johann Rudolph Denis, taught him Latin when he was very young.
When he was ten, Denis began his education with the Jesuits in Passau. The Jesuits are a religious order of the Catholic Church. After finishing his studies in 1747, he joined the Jesuit training program in Vienna.
Denis's Career as a Jesuit
After his first training, Denis taught at Jesuit schools in Graz and Klagenfurt. In 1757, he became a priest. Two years later, he started teaching at the Theresianum in Vienna, which was a Jesuit college.
In 1773, the Jesuit order was stopped by the Pope for a time. This meant the college where Denis taught closed. However, he stayed there to look after its library until 1784. Later, he became a custodian at the royal court library. Seven years after that, he became its chief librarian.
Michael Denis passed away in Vienna in 1800.
Denis's Writings and Poetry
Michael Denis admired a famous German poet named Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Denis was part of a group of poets who called themselves "bards." Bards were ancient poets and storytellers. His own poems, published in 1772, were called Die Lieder Sineds des Barden.
He is also well-known for translating the works of Ossian into German. Ossian was a legendary ancient Celtic poet. Denis's translations were published between 1768 and 1769. He later published them with his own poems in a collection called Ossians und Sineds Lieder.
Promoting German Literature
Denis did more than just write his own poems and translate others. He worked hard to introduce Austrian readers to new literature from Northern Germany. His collection of shorter poems from German writers, published from 1762 to 1766, was very important for this.
He also created several helpful guides about books and literature. These included Grundriss der Bibliographie und Bücherkunde (1774) and Einleitung in die Bücherkunde (1777). He also wrote a history of printing in Vienna up to 1560.
Denis as a Scientist
Besides his writing, Michael Denis was also interested in science. He worked with Ignaz Schiffermüller to create a large collection of butterflies and moths. He also published the first list of all the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) found around Vienna.
Sadly, his valuable collection of insects was kept at the Hofburg Palace. It was destroyed during the Revolution of 1848 in Vienna.
Main Works by Michael Denis
- Poetische Bilder der meisten kriegerischen Vorgänge in Europa seit dem Jahr 1756, Vienna 1760
- Die Gedichte Ossians, eines alten celtischen Dichters, aus dem Englischen übersetzt, Vienna 1768–69
- Einleitung in die Bücherkunde, Vienna 1777–1778
- Die Lieder Sineds des Barden, Vienna 1772 (this book includes the words for Mozart's Gibraltar)
- Systematisches Verzeichniß der Schmetterlinge der Wienergegend herausgegeben von einigen Lehrern am k. k. Theresianum (with Ignaz Schiffermüller), Vienna 1775
- Grundriß der Bibliographie, Vienna 1777
- Die Merkwürdigkeiten der k. k. garellischen öffentlichen Bibliothek am Theresiano, Vienna 1780
- Bibliotheca typographica Vindobonensis ab anno 1482 usque ad annum 1560, Vienna 1782 (also in German Wiens Buchdruckergeschichte bis 1560, Vienna 1782–1793)
- Ossian und Sineds Lieder, 5 volumes, 1784
- Kurze Erzählung der Streitigkeiten über die alten Urkunden, Heidelberg 1785
- Zurückerinnerungen, Vienna 1794
- Carmina quaedam, Vienna 1794
- Beschäftigungen mit Gott schon in dem 12. Jahrhundert gesammelt, Vienna 1799
