Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens

Who was Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens?

Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens was a German philologist.

He was born in Helmstedt. After studying at the University of Göttingen under Otfried Müller and Georg Ludolf Dissen, he worked as schoolteacher at the Pädagogium in Ilfeld. In 1845 he was appointed director of the gymnasium in Lingen, and in 1849 succeeded GF Grotefend as director of the Lyceum at Hanover, a post which he filled with great success for thirty years.

His most important work was "De Graecae Linguae Dialectis", a study of Aeolic and Doric dialects that became a standard treatise on the subject. He also published "Bucolicorum Graecorum Reliquiae"; studies on the dialects of Homer and the Greek lyrists; on Aeschylus; and some excellent school textbooks. A volume of his minor works was published in 1891, which also contains a complete list of his writings.