Georg Koës
Encyclopedia
Antvorskov
Antvorskov was the principal Scandinavian monastery of the Roman Catholic Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, located about one kilometer south of the town of Slagelse on Zealand, Denmark....
– 1811) was a Danish philologist of the early 19th century. He was the third son of Anna Mathea Falch and Georg Frederik Koës, and was christened on 4 February 1782 in St Peter's, Slagelse
Slagelse
Slagelse, a town in east Denmark, is in Slagelse municipality on the island of Zealand. It is about 100 km southwest of Copenhagen. The population is 31,979 ....
.
He studied classical philology under F.A. Wolf
Friedrich August Wolf
Friedrich August Wolf was a German philologist and critic.He was born at Hainrode, a village not far from Nordhausen, Germany. His father was the village schoolmaster and organist...
at the University of Halle, writing pioneering works of textual criticism on ancient Greek works, including Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, whose work he demonstrated to be by more than one writer (Specimen observationum in Odysseam criticarum, acc. commentatio de discrepantiis quibusdam in Odyssea occurrentibus, Copenhagen 1806). He visited Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1806 with his friend Peter Oluf Brøndsted
Peter Oluf Brøndsted
Peter Oluf Brøndsted , Danish archaeologist and traveller.-Biography:Brøndsted wasas born at Fruering in Jutland. After studying at the University of Copenhagen he visited Paris in 1806 with his friend Georg Koes. After remaining there two years, they went together to Italy...
. After remaining there two years, they went together to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Both were zealously attached to the study of antiquities and the tastes and interests they held in common led them, in 1810, to join an expedition to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
with Otto Magnus von Stackelberg
Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (archaeologist)
Count Otto Magnus Baron von Stackelberg was one of the first archaeologists, as well as a writer, painter and art historian.-Early life:...
, Carl Haller von Hallerstein
Carl Haller von Hallerstein
Johann Carl Christoph Wilhelm Joachim Haller von Hallerstein was a German architect, archaeologist and art historian.-Biography:...
, the German painter Jakob Linckh
Jakob Linckh
Jakob Linckh was a German painter and archaeologist.In 1810-11, he accompanied Charles Robert Cockerell, John Foster, Carl Haller von Hallerstein and Otto Magnus von Stackelberg on their expeditions to the temples of Aphaia on Aegina and of Apollo at Bassae. On this trip he also drew a plan of...
, and the then Austrian consul in Greece George Christian Gropius.
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He was buried at the house of consul Lunzi on the island (Brøndsted was away in Thessaly at the time). Sir William Gell
William Gell
Sir William Gell was an English classical archaeologist and illustrator.-Life:Born at Hopton in Derbyshire, the son of Philip Gell and Dorothy Milnes...
, who also participated in the expedition, sent home a drawing of the burial-spot for Koës's family back in Denmark, and this is now in the possession of the Brøndsted family.
The expedition continued and, when Brøndsted returned to Copenhagen in 1813, he married Georg's sister Frederikke. Koes had been engaged to his cousin Caroline Falch (7 November 1790 - 10 November 1856), daughter of Andreas Falch (1748-1797) & Charlotte Sophie Suhr (1756-1822), before leaving for Paris, and on his death she married Theodor Suhr the elder (1792-1858) in around 1816.http://tom.brondsted.dk/genealogi/koes/2_7.php
Further reading
- History Seminar (in German)
- Koes family history site (in Danish)
- Danish Biography Encyclopaedia, 3rd ed. Red. Cedergren Bech, 1979-1984, ii Bio.Leks.
- Erslev, Th.H.: Original writer's dictionary for the Danish Kingdom with matching Bilande from 1814-1840, I-III, Kbh. 1843
- Nyrop, C.: The Suhr House in Copenhagen 1749–1849, Kbh. 1899.
- Brøndsted, Julie ("Ju"): Erindringer fra Gyldenholm (Memories from Gyldenholm), manuscript , 1915 - she mentions in passing a "diary of Koës which I own". This must be the diary, of which an extract of p. 118-24 is printed, 1906, p. 118-24. Where it is now is not known (possibly the Danish Royal LibraryDanish Royal LibraryThe Royal Library in Copenhagen is the national library of Denmark and university library of University of Copenhagen. It is the largest library in the Nordic countries....
).