Karl Witte

Karl Witte.

Johann Heinrich Friedrich Karl Witte (born July 1, 1800 in Lochau (now part of Schkopau); died March 6, 1883 in Halle) was a German jurist and scholar of Dante Alighieri.

Biography

Witte was the son of pastor Karl Heinrich Gottfried Witte (1767-1845) who encouraged a fairly intense program of learning. When Karl Witte was nine, he spoke German, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek, and on April 10, 1814, at the age of 13, he became a doctor of philosophy at the University of Giessen in Germany.[1] As a result, Witte was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the "youngest doctorate", a record that still stands; however, The Guinness Book of World Records lists his age as 12.[2]

Witte was the subject of a book written by his father: The Education of Karl Witte: Or, The Training of the Child. This book attracted criticism and soon fell into oblivion in Germany. However, the education principles he suggested in this 200 year old book are still echoing in today's child education, such as

  • The emphasis on developing an independent, loving, healthy, mentally strong, all rounded person
  • Treat and respect children equally as adults, and never belittle a child and hurt his/her self esteem
  • Positive encouragement instead criticism [3]
  • Listen to your child, build up mutual understanding and trust

He achieved his reputation as a Dante scholar in 1823 with his essay "The Art of Misunderstanding Dante".[4]

References

  1. ↑ Witte, Karl Heinrich Gottfried (1914). Bruce, H. Addington, ed. The Education of Karl Witte: Or, The Training of the Child. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. pp. xvii, 312. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ Wolf, Buck (October 23, 2009). "10 Unbreakable Guinness Records". AOL News. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  3. ↑ , Early Childhood Education: A-D, Praeger Publishers, 2007
  4. ↑ Riordan, Roger (March 11, 1899). "Four Recent Books: Verse by Thomas Hardy, Essays on Dante, The Chinese Classics, and a Bismarck Book" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
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