Isaac Casaubon

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Isaac Casaubon , 1559–1614, Franco-English classical scholar and theologian, b. Geneva. He became professor of Greek at Geneva and at Montpellier and by his learning attracted the notice of Henry IV of France, who made him royal librarian. After Henry's death (1610), he was invited to England by the archbishop of Canterbury. Born a Huguenot , he joined the Church of England and James I granted him a royal stipend. In 1611, Casaubon became an English subject, remaining in England the rest of his life. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Casaubon's great works are his editions of the classics, particularly Athenaeus and the Characters of Theophrastus . He also wrote On Matters Sacred and Ecclesiastical (1614) and other scholarly tomes. Casaubon, who knew Hebrew, Aramaic, and the vernacular Yiddish as well as the classical languages, was also a student of Jewish learning. His diary, Ephemerides, was edited by his son, Florence Étienne Méric Casaubon , 1599–1671, who also was a classical scholar.

Bibliography: See study by A. Grafton and J. Weinberg (2011).