Niebuhr (English spelling) Barthold Georg Niebuhr

German ancient historian and politician. Born in Copenhagen, he studied at the University of Kiel. He first served in the Danish Ministry of Finance, but in 1806, at Stein's invitation, he moved to the Prussian government and played a leading role in financial reform. In 1810, he resigned, dissatisfied with the stagnation of reform. He lectured ancient history at the newly established University of Berlin, where he gained fame, and also wrote "History of Rome" (2 volumes, the third volume was published posthumously). During the war of liberation against Napoleon, he published the daily newspaper "Prussian Correspondence" and tried to inform the people of the political and military situation as quickly and concretely as possible. He was also commissioned by the Prussian government to negotiate a commercial treaty with the British government, and from 1816 to 1823 he served as a Prussian envoy to the Vatican, where he concluded negotiations to reestablish the Archbishopric of Cologne. From 1824 onwards, he became a professor at the University of Bonn, where he continued to lecture and research ancient history.

As an ancient historian, Niebuhr was the first to establish a critical method based on accurate historical facts. However, his achievement was not limited to critically treating old traditions and historical materials, but was in vividly describing ancient events and people as if they were modern, based on his own experiences as a politician and using methods of inference from historical facts in Germany and Italy. Although his achievements in Roman history were later surpassed by Mommsen and others, as a founder of modern historiography, he had a great influence on later historians such as Ranke and Siebel.

[Kitani Tsutomu]

"G.P. Gooch, translated by Kentaro Hayashi and Takako Hayashi, "History and Historians of the 19th Century, Vol. 1" (1971, Chikuma Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ドイツの古代史家、政治家。コペンハーゲンに生まれ、キール大学に学ぶ。初めデンマークの大蔵省に仕えたが、1806年シュタインの招きでプロイセン政府に移り、財政改革に指導的役割を果たした。1810年、改革の停滞に不満を抱いて辞任。新設のベルリン大学で古代史の講義を担当、名声を博す一方、『ローマ史』（2巻。第3巻は死後に公刊）を著した。対ナポレオンの解放戦争中は、日刊新聞『プロイセン通信』を発行し、国民に政治、軍事情勢をできるだけ早く、かつ具体的に伝えようと努力した。またプロイセン政府の委託を受け、イギリス政府との通商条約交渉にあたり、1816～1823年にはプロイセンの使節としてバチカンに赴き、ケルン大司教区再建交渉を成立させた。1824年以降、ボン大学教授に就任、古代史の講義と研究を続けた。

　ニーブールは古代史家として、初めて正確な史実に基づく批判的な方法を樹立した。しかし彼の功績は、古い伝承や史料を批判的に扱うにとどまらず、自らの政治家としての体験を踏まえ、またドイツやイタリアの史実からの類推の方法も用いて、古代の事件や人物をあたかも現在のそれのように生き生きと描写したことにある。彼のローマ史の業績は、のちにモムゼンらによって追い越されたとはいえ、近代歴史学の建設者として、ランケやジーベルら後世の歴史家に与えた影響は大きい。

［木谷　勤］

『G・P・グーチ著、林健太郎・林孝子訳『十九世紀の歴史と歴史家たち　上』（1971・筑摩書房）』

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