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'''Alfred Klotz''' ({{Birth date|1874|6|15|df=y}}{{Spaced en dash}}{{Death date|1956|1|10|df=y}}) was a German [[classicist]] and scholar of [[Latin literature]]. Born into a family of classical scholars, he studied [[Classics]] at the [[University of Leipzig]] and he worked at at the [[German University in Prague]] from 1911 until the outbreak of the [[First World War]]. After the war, he was appointed to the chair of Latin at the [[University of Erlangen]].

The central achievement of his career were a number of [[critical editions]] of classical authors: he published editions of the poems of Statius, the ''[[commentarii]]'' of [[Julius Caesar]], and a large part of [[Cicero]]'s speeches. His editions of Statius, in particular, were long used as the standard texts. Klotz also worked on [[source criticism]]. His contributions to this topic are described by classicist [[Klaus Stiewe]] as his most lasting scholarly legacy.<ref name="NDB"/>

==Life and career==
Alfred Klotz was born in [[Zittau]], [[Kingdom of Saxony]] on 15 June 1874. His father and grandfather had worked as [[classical scholars]] in [[Leipzig]].{{Sfn|Seel|1956|p=398}} In 1892, he followed the same career path by enrolling to study [[Classics]] at [[Leipzig University]], where he was particularly influenced by [[Latinist]] [[Otto Ribbeck]] and [[Hellenist]] [[Otto Immisch]].<ref name="NDB">{{NDB|12|126|127|Klotz, Alfred|Stiewe, Klaus|116235101}}</ref> Having written a doctoral dissertation on the ''[[Silvae]]'' by the Roman poet [[Statius]], he graduated with a [[PhD]] in 1896.{{Sfn|Seel|1956|p=398}}

In 1905, after spending some time as a [[lexicographer]] at the ''[[Thesaurus Linguae Latinae]]'' at [[Munich]], Klotz became a lecturer (''[[Privatdozent]]'') at the [[University of Strasbourg]] and cultivated a friendship with the [[historian of religion]] [[Richard August Reitzenstein]].{{Sfn|Seel|1956|p=398}} From 1911, he assumed a full professorship at the [[German University in Prague]]. His tenure was interrupted by the [[First World War]]: rising to the rank of ''[[Hauptmann]]'' (captain), he participated in the [[Battle of the Somme]] and suffered an eye injury.{{Sfn|Seel|1956|p=398}} In 1920, he was appointed to the chair of Latin at the [[University of Erlangen]], where he remained until his retirement in 1939. He died on 10 January 1956.{{Sfn|Seel|1956|p=398}} 

==Works==
The central achievement of his career were a number of [[critical editions]] of classical authors: he published editions of the poems of Statius, the ''[[commentarii]]'' of [[Julius Caesar]], and a large part of [[Cicero]]'s speeches.{{Sfn|Seel|1956|p=399}} His editions of Statius, in particular, were long used as the standard texts.<ref name="NDB"/> An expert in [[source criticism]], he showed an interest in the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] precedents of Roman authors, resulting in publications on the historical writers [[Appian]], [[Livy]] and [[Valerius Maximus]].<ref name="NDB"/> According to a biography of Klotz by classicist [[Klaus Stiewe]], his contributions to source criticism were his most lastings scholarly legacy since many of his findings remained unrivalled until the late 20th-century.<ref name="NDB"/>

In 1934, in the context of the [[race theory]] promoted by the government of [[Adolf Hitler]], Klotz co-authored a textbook on the putative Nordic [[master race]]. The book sold poorly.{{Sfn|Blänsdorf|2004|p=334}} 

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite journal|title=Alfred Klotz|journal=[[Gnomon (journal)|Gnomon]]|url=https://www-jstor-org.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/stable/i27681364|url-access=registration|last=Seel|first=Otto|volume=28|pages=398-400|via=JSTOR|year=1956|issn=0017-1417}}
*{{Cite book|title=Nationalsozialismus in den Kulturwissenschaften: Fächer, Milieus, Karrieren|last=Blänsdorf|first=Agnes|publisher=[[Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht]]|year=2004|isbn=3525351984|location=Göttingen|pages=273-370|url=https://books.google.de/books?id=w1XEgAI2FtMC&pg=PA334&lpg=PA334&dq=%22Alfred+Klotz%22+Philologie+Erlangen&source=bl&ots=j2sgbslXEi&sig=wDkLB1EXYzxlZZG4XO2hAnOh590&hl=de&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor-last=Lehmann|editor-first=Hartmut|language=de|chapter=Lehrwerke für Geschichtsunterricht an den Höheren Schulen 1933-1945: Autoren und Verlage under den Bedingungen des Nationalsozialismus|editor-last2=Oexle|editor-first2=Otto Gerhard}}