GRAEVIUS (properly GRAEVE or GREFFE), JOHANN GEORG (1632-1703), German classical scholar and critic, was born at Naumburg, Saxony, on Jan. 29, 1632. After holding other appointments, he became, in 1662, professor at Utrecht, where he died Jan. II, 1703. Graevius had a high reputation as a teacher. He was honoured with special recognition by Louis XIV., and was a particular favourite of William III. of England, who made him historiographer royal.
His two most important works are the Thesaurus antiquitatum Romanarum (1694-99) , and the Thesaurus antiquitatum et historiarum Italiae published after his death, and continued by the elder Burmann (1704-25) . His editions of the classics, although they marked a distinct advance in scholarship, are now for the most part superseded.