Paul de Lagarde

Paul Anton de Lagarde (2 November 1827 – 22 December 1891) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, sometimes regarded as one of the greatest orientalists of the 19th century. Lagarde's strong support of anti-Semitism, vocal opposition to Christianity, racial Darwinism and anti-Slavism are viewed as having been among the most influential in supporting the ideology of Nazism.Fascism: Intellectual origins, Encyclopaedia Britannica His great learning and gifts were mixed with dogmatism and distrust in the activities of others. In politics, he belonged to the Prussian Conservative party. He died in Göttingen on 22 December 1891. De Lagarde was born in Berlin as Paul Bötticher; in early adulthood he legally adopted the family name of his maternal line out of respect for his great-aunt who raised him. At Humboldt University of Berlin (1844–1846) and University of Halle-Wittenberg (1846–1847) he studied theology, philosophy and Oriental languages. In 1852 his studies took him to London and Paris. In 1854 he became a teacher at a Berlin public school, but this did not interrupt his biblical studies. In 1866 he received three years leave of absence to collect fresh materials, and in 1869 succeeded German orientalist and theologian Heinrich Ewald as professor of oriental languages at the University of Göttingen. Like Ewald, Lagarde was an active worker in a variety of subjects and languages; but his chief aim, the elucidation of the Bible, was almost always kept in view. Lagarde was easily the most renowned Septuagint scholar of the nineteenth century, and he devoted himself ardently to Oriental studies. Parallel to his academic work, he attempted to establish a German national religion whose most striking manifestations were an aggressive anti-Semitism, anti-slavism and expansionism. He held few concrete religious beliefs at the ready for his postulated national religion as his first political treatise Über das Verhältnis des deutschen Staates zu Theologie, Kirche und Religion.