Wilhelm von Humboldt had a great influenceon the development of culture and literature. His works continue to influence scientists and thinkers of our time. Every educated person considers it his duty to study carefully the work that Humboldt Wilhelm wrote at the time. His thoughts and conclusions are still relevant for contemporaries of the XX and XXI centuries. To understand his ideas, it is necessary to go deeper into his biography, to find out in which city Wilhelm Humboldt was born, where he created, whose friendship had a special impact on him.
Wilhelm von Humboldt, as well as his no lessgifted younger brother Alexander, came from a noble and wealthy family, which had significant opportunities and finances. They belonged, among other things, to the famous Tegel castle in Berlin.
Humboldt Wilhelm was born on June 22, 1767year in the city of Potsdam. His father, Alexander Georg, came from the clan of the Prussian bourgeoisie. His grandfather became a nobleman due to his military merits. Mother, Baroness Elizabeth von Holvede has French roots. The oppression of the Huguenots in France forced her family to leave their homeland and move to Germany, to Berlin. When Alexander Georg came to Berlin after retirement, he met his future wife. They had two sons - Alexander and Wilhelm.
The Humboldt family spared no money foreducation of their children. At the age of 20, Wilhelm Humboldt entered the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, and from 1788 began to listen to lectures on philology and history at the University of Göttingen. From 27 to 30 years he lived in Jena, where he got many acquaintances with famous philosophers and thinkers. Among them, it is especially worth mentioning the names of Schiller and Goethe. Subsequently, he leaves for Paris to study the culture of France - in fact it flows in part and the French blood. At the same time, he spent a lot of time traveling around Spain and the Basque region.
Humboldt Wilhelm became a significant figure onpolitical arena of Prussia. At various times from 1801 to 1819 he occupied important government posts, was the plenipotentiary envoy in Vienna, the Vatican, Paris, Prague. Being Minister of Religious Affairs and Education, he managed to implement a large-scale reform of secondary and higher education in Prussia. It was Humboldt who owned the idea of taking the primary school out of religious influence and making it an independent educational institution.
В 1809 в Берлине он основывает университет.Now this educational institution bears the name of Humboldt. It was in Berlin that Wilhelm Humboldt lived and worked, whose biography is inextricably linked with one of the most influential cities in Germany.
Humboldt did not stop there.His merits are evident at the famous Vienna Congress, which defined the new structure of Europe after the fall of Napoleon's power. Until 1819, Wilhelm Humboldt was an influential diplomat and participated in the adoption of the most important decisions for the country. He represented the interests of the country in the international arena and achieved great success in this field.
Brilliant education and financial securityhis family allowed Wilhelm to enter the circle of prominent scientists and philosophers of his time. In addition to his professional interest in politics, von Humboldt was always interested in humanism and his ideas. For example, back in the 1790s he wrote a work titled "Thoughts on an attempt to define the boundaries of state actions", in which he develops the idea of complete freedom of the individual from the state. Humboldt sets out the idea that the main task of the state is to ensure the territorial integrity of the country, but it has no right to interfere in the affairs of individual citizens. The ideas outlined in this work were so innovative that the work was censored and was banned from printing. In the light it came out only in the middle of the XIX century.
This is not the only work in which Wilhelm Humboldt set out his ideas and reflections. Linguistics received in his person one of the reformers and founders of modern concepts.
Благодаря широте кругозора и высокой education Wilhelm Humboldt was a member of all literary salons. He was often invited to listen to his opinion on this or that occasion, to find out about reviews of literary works read.
In 1791 his wife became Caroline vonDahereden - one of the most educated and intelligent women of his time. She helped and supported everything that Wilhelm von Humboldt was doing. After the wedding, the Humboldt House became the site of regular meetings of the best minds of all Europe. Here one could meet writers, scientists, philosophers, and politicians.
One of Wilhelm's main hobbiestravels. He traveled a lot around the countries of Europe, often stayed long in Switzerland and Rome. It was during his trips that he was imbued with love and great interest in foreign languages and other cultures.
The linguistic concept of Wilhelm Humboldtreceived his maximum clearance after his retirement and the completion of his political and state career. He had a lot of free time, and it turned out to bring his thoughts and ideas into a single written form.
The first work was the work “On comparativelearning languages as applied to different epochs of their development. ” He read it in the walls of the Berlin Academy of Sciences. Then the work “On the emergence of grammatical forms and their influence on the development of ideas” was published. It laid out the basics of theoretical linguistics, which was described by Wilhelm Humboldt. Linguistics still draws much from his writings, and theorists discuss his ideas and postulates.
There are unfinished work that did not have timefinalize and publish Humboldt Wilhelm. "On the Kawi language on the island of Java" is one such work. What emphasize the versatility and breadth of talent and thought of this philosopher and thinker.
His main work, "On the difference in structurehuman languages and its influence on the spiritual development of mankind ”, was unfortunately posthumously published. In it, Humboldt Wilhelm tried to present the essence of his research in as much detail as possible.
He emphasized the unity of the spirit of the people and their language. After all, language reflects the creative beginning of each language, reflects the soul of the whole nation.
Wilhelm von Humboldt became not only prominentpolitical statesman, but also left a significant mark as an outstanding scientist. He defended the interests of his country during the territorial redistribution of Europe, the creation of a new world order. And he certainly did it successfully. His work was highly valued by the emperor. He was a skilled diplomat.
После окончания своей профессиональной activities and with the advent of free time engaged in the study of languages, their classification, highlighting common features and differences. He outlined his ideas in his writings, which were published. The depth of research was so serious that his concept formed the basis of a new science - linguistics. Some of his ideas anticipated his time for a hundred years and were confirmed decades later. On the basis of his conclusions, a separate science of sounds in linguistics has emerged - phonology.
His educational reform helpedto move the efforts to eliminate illiteracy among the population. It was under him that the school began to acquire features familiar to us. Prior to this, no school system existed at all.
The writings of Wilhelm von Humboldt marked the beginningNew science - linguistics, linguistics. He argued the theses that gave food to the mind of many philosophers and scientists. Until now, linguists discuss and discuss many of his conclusions, agree with something, argue about something. But one thing is indisputable - it is impossible to study this science and not to know the name of Wilhelm Humboldt.
Помимо научных трудов, которые оставил своим Wilhelm von Humboldt’s descendants about language, another significant testament was the university he founded, in which thousands of young and gifted people received higher education.
The concept of Wilhelm von Humboldt becamerevolution in linguistics. Yes, according to the majority of theorists, scientific thought has gone ahead, and some of the provisions and ideas of the founder of this science are already outdated and have become irrelevant. Nevertheless, it will be very useful for every scientist to learn and understand the course of the logical reasoning of von Humboldt in the process of creating his works.
He spent a lot of time systematizing andby classifying different languages according to language groups and common features or differences. Humboldt talked about the constancy and at the same time the variability of the language - how it changes over time, what affects these changes, which of them will remain forever, and which gradually also disappear.
There are dozens of monuments and monuments in honor of Wilhelm von Humboldt in the world, but one of the most outstanding was the crater on the visible side of the moon, which was named after the great scientist.
In Berlin, a monument in honor of Humboldt is installed on one of the main streets of the city - Unter den Linden.
