Friedrich Christian Diez

German scholar

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Friedrich Christian Diez (born March 15, 1794, Giessen, Hesse-Darmstadt [Germany]—died May 29, 1876, Bonn, Ger.) was a German-born language scholar who made the first major analysis of the Romance languages and thus founded an important branch of comparative linguistics. As a student Diez acquired a deep interest in Italian poetry, but a visit to the great German poet J.W. von Goethe in 1818 directed his attention to exploring Provençal literature. As Privatdozent, or student-paid lecturer,...