Bernard-Ignace Denzinger
When the University was founded, the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters had five professors: the Hellenist François-Pierre Gall, the Dutch literature specialist Jean Kinker, the Latinist Jean-Dominique Fuss, the French literature specialist Louis-Pierre Rouillé and the philosopher Bernard-Ignace Denzinger, who was appointed rector for the academic year 1820-1821.
Born in Dettelbach (Franconia) in 1782 and died in Würzburg in 1862, Bernard Ignace Denzinger was introduced to Kantian philosophy by his teacher André Metz . Afterworking in a statistical office, he became editor of L'Aurore, a periodical devoted to poetry and the fine arts. His wife, Thecla Molitor, whom he met on this occasion, continued her career as a poet once she was married .
In 1817, he was appointed Chair of Philosophy at the University of Liège, where he taught philosophical encyclopedia, pragmatic anthropology, logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy, history of philosophy and ... universal history! Inhis firstyear asrector (1820-1821), he set up a propaedeutic school at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (with Jean-Dominique Fussand Jean-George Wagemann), where he taughta course in pedagogy.
He also founded a German Academy and devoted several publications to questions of logic. The revolution of 1830 put an end to his career in Liège, due to the abolition of the Faculty and his German origins. Returning to Würzburg, he was appointed Professor of History and Statistics at the Julius-Universitat in 1832, where he also held a number of administrative positions.
President of the local historical society, he ended his life pursuing his research in the fields of philosophy and history.
