Biography

Abraham Gronovius. (1695-1775) (aka. Professor Gronovius)

Son of Jacob Gronovius and Anna van Vredenburch. Married (1720) to Dorothea Wijnanda van Asch van Wijck. Grandson of Johannes Fredericus Gronovius (1611-1671), Professor of Classical Philology at Leyden. Brother of Johan Frederik Gronovius. Librarian at the University Library in Leyden (1741-1775). Gronovius earned some fame as a classical scholar in his own time, and was editor of several classical Latin and Greek texts. His most famous work was a new edition of Marcus Junianus Justinus (3rd cent.).

Life with James Boswell:

Gronovius was an old friend of Boswell's father, since the latter's student days at Leyden. So, with an introduction from his father, Boswell visited Gronovius at Leyden on August 12, 1763. He was warmly received and returned to see him on December 20, when he "passed an hour with him, quite Dutch, commentaric, and comfortable". They met again a few times in early January, 1764 as well as in the spring.

Shortly before Boswell left Holland for good, on June 6, 1764, he again visited "Gronovius in his garden. I owned to him my melancholy. He bid me conceal it, and be always busy or amused. We passed this our last evening with much satisfaction. I took a hearty leave of him". A few days later Boswell had delivered to Gronovius 45 bottles of Port, for which he received a very warm letter of thanks.

Literature:

Some Gronovius editions of classical texts are sometimes available via the Abebooks used books search engine.

This article was last updated at January 28 2008 13:15:47 CET

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