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Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld (character)
Encyclopedia
Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld is the main character
in a series of short, humorous novel
s by Scottish
author
Alexander McCall Smith
.
In the books, Von Igelfeld is:
The books' illustrations are by Iain McIntosh.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in a series of short, humorous novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
.
In the books, Von Igelfeld is:
- a "Professor Dr";
- proud, stoic, and unable or unwilling to admit or face failure or imminent disaster in his professional or personal life - which is the basis for the humourHumourHumour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
in these novels; - a philologistPhilologyPhilology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
; - the author of a fictional bookFictional bookA fictional book is a book that sometimes provides the basis of the plot of a story, a common thread in a series of books, or the works of a particular writer or canon of work. A fictional book may also be used as a mode of conceit to illustrate a story within a story.-Prominent fictional...
Portuguese Irregular VerbsPortuguese Irregular Verbs (novel)Portuguese Irregular Verbs is a short comic novel by Alexander McCall Smith, and the first of McCall Smith's Professor Dr von Igelfeld novels. It was first published in 2003....
- "the seminal work on RomanceRomance languagesThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
philologyPhilologyPhilology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
" and "a lengthy book of some twelve hundred pages"; - proud of his aristocratAristocracy (class)The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
ic GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
heritage; - an academic at the fictional Institute of Romance Philology in Regensburg, Germany;
- a colleague of the other major characters of the book series, Professor Dr Dr (honoris causa) Florianus Prinzel and Professor Dr Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer ;
- a compound word name in the German languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
meaning "hedgehogHedgehogA hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
fieldField (agriculture)In agriculture, the word field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as:* Cultivating crops* Usage as a paddock or, generally, an enclosure of livestock...
" - igel=hedgehog, feld=field;
- said to be quite tall;
- born on May DayMay DayMay Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
, 1 May; - initially a student in Heidelberg, Germany;
- second for a duelDuelA duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
by his friend Prinzel, which he had arranged, mistakenly, in a drunken discussion; - a doctoralDoctorateA doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
student of Professor Dr Dr Dr Dieter Vogelsang, in Munich, Germany, studying CelticCeltic languagesThe Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
philology and in particular Early IrishIrish languageIrish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, and completed a field trip to CorkCork (city)Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
to gather data on its profanityProfanityProfanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
; - a doctoral student (second assistant) of Professor Walter Schöffler-Henschell at the University of Wiesbaden.
Book Series
The books in the series are:- 2003 Portuguese Irregular VerbsPortuguese Irregular Verbs (novel)Portuguese Irregular Verbs is a short comic novel by Alexander McCall Smith, and the first of McCall Smith's Professor Dr von Igelfeld novels. It was first published in 2003....
- 2003 The Finer Points of Sausage DogsThe Finer Points of Sausage Dogs (novel)The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs is a novel by Scottish author and academic Alexander McCall Smith. The book relates further matters in the life of the main character, Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, following on from the first book of the series, Portuguese Irregular Verbs.The Professor is...
- 2003 At the Villa of Reduced CircumstancesAt the Villa of Reduced Circumstances (novel)At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances is a book by Scottish author and academic Alexander McCall Smith, relating further matters in the life of the main character, Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld....
The books' illustrations are by Iain McIntosh.