Walther von Wartburg

Who was Walther von Wartburg?

Walther von Wartburg was a Swiss philologist and lexicographer. He was the author of the Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch.

After studying at the universities of Berne, Zurich, Florence and Paris, in 1918 he presented his doctoral thesis Zur Benennung des Schafes in den romanischen Sprachen. In 1921 he became Privatdozent at Berne. He worked in the method of Lausanne, and later studied, from 1929 to 1939, at the University of Leipzig. From 1940 to 1959, he was Professor of French Philology at the University of Basle.

His chief work is without a doubt the "Etymological French Dictionary".

Von Wartburg had honorary doctorates from the University of Lausanne and the University of Leeds. In 1963 he received the German Order of Merit for Science and the Arts.

Today, a literary award, the Prix Wartburg de Littérature, is awarded each 25 April in recognition of a défenseur de la langue française, remarquable pour l'élégance de son écriture et/ou pour son anticonformisme.