LAGARDE

lagarde, paul anton de (1827-1891), german biblical scholar and orientalist, was born at berlin on the 2nd of november 1827. his real name was botticher, lagarde being his mother's name. at berlin (1844-1846) and halle (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. he edited the _didascalia apostolorum syriace_ (1854), and other syriac texts collected in the british museum and in paris. in 1866 he received three years' leave of absence to collect fresh materials, and in 1869 succeeded heinrich ewald as professor of oriental languages at gottingen. 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. he edited the aramaic translation (known as the targum) of the prophets according to the codex reuchlinianus preserved at carlsruhe, _prophetae chaldaice_ (1872), the _hagiographa chaldaice_ (1874), an arabic translation of the gospels, _die vier evangelien, arabisch aus der wiener handschrift herausgegeben_ (1864), a syriac translation of the old testament apocrypha, _libri v. t. apocryphi syriace_ (1861), a coptic translation of the pentateuch, _der pentateuch koptisch_ (1867), and a part of the lucianic text of the septuagint, which he was able to reconstruct from manuscripts for nearly half the old testament. he devoted himself ardently to oriental scholarship, and published _zur urgeschichte der armenier_ (1854) and _armenische studien_ (1877). he was also a student of persian, publishing _isaias persice_ (1883) and _persische studien_ (1884). he followed up his coptic studies with _aegyptiaca_ (1883), and published many minor contributions to the study of oriental languages in _gesammelte abhandlungen_ (1866), _symmicta_ (i. 1877, ii. 1880), _semitica_ (i. 1878, ii. 1879), _orientalia_ (1879-1880) and _mittheilungen_ (1884). mention should also be made of the valuable _onomastica sacra_ (1870; 2nd ed., 1887). lagarde also took some part in politics. he belonged to the prussian conservative party, and was a violent anti-semite. the bitterness which he felt appeared in his writings. he died at gottingen on the 22nd of december 1891. see the article in herzog-hauck, _realencyklopadie_; and cf. anna de lagarde, _paul de lagarde_ (1894).