The New International Encyclopædia/Reiske, Johann Jakob

REISKE, ri'ske, Johann Jakob (1716-74). A celebrated German philologist and Oriental scholar. He was born at Zörbig, Prussian Saxony, and was educated at the University of Leipzig, where he devoted much attention to the study of the Semitic languages, especially Arabic. In 1758, after living in abject indigence, he obtained the rectorship of the Nikolai Gynmasium, in Leipzig, and he retained the post till his death. From 1758 he devoted his attention chiefly to Greek literature, in which he became a recognized authority. His works, which are very numerous and are remarkable for their learning, include his Animadversiones in Græcos Auctores (1757-66), and editions of Theocritus (1765-66); of the Greek orators (1770-75); of Maximus Tyrius (1774-75); of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1774–77); of Plutarch, with notes and translations (12 vols., 1774-82); Dio Chrysostom (1784-98); and Libanius (1791-94). Reiske was also the first to call attention to the historical and æsthetic value of Arabic literature. His chief work in this field was his Latin translation of the Annales Moslemici of Abulfeda (1754; frequently reëdited). Some of these works, and his correspondence with Moses Mendelssohn and Lessing, were published after his death, by his wife, Ernestine Christine Reiske (1735-98). Consult: Morus, Vita Reiskii (Leipzig. 1777): Reiske, Selbstbiographie (Leipzig, 1793); and Haupt's Opuscula (Leipzig, 1875-76).