VOSSIUS, GERARD, one of the most distinguished scholars of the first half of the 17th c., was b. of Dutch parents near Heidelberg, where his father was a Protestant minister. His father's name was John Voss, but he, after the fashion of the time, had Latinized it into Johannes Vossius, and hence his son called himself Gerardus .Toliannis Vossius, that is, Gerard, the son of John. In 1578 the family returned to Holland, and settled at Dordrecht, where Vossius went to school. He afterward distinguished himself at the university of Leyden; and when 22 he returned to Dordrecht, to become the prin cipal of the school, of which he was the most distinguished pupil. He married shortly afterward, but his wife died in 1607, leaving a family of three children. In the same year, he again married, and by his second wife lie had two sons and five daughters. In the earlier part of Ins life, Vossius does not appear to havepublishal much, but he became known to his countrymen as a scholar and theologian; and his assiduity in study may be inferred from the fact that he would never allow a friend to stay with him more than a quarter of an hoer. In 1614 he became principal of the theological college of Ley-den, and while holding this appointment, published a work on Pelagianism (IIistoria Pela In it lie spoke of the Arminians in an apologetic tone, and thereby brought down iipon himself the wrath of a large section of the Dutch clergy; which caused him to be deprived of his office in the theological college, and of the income derived from it.
His work had attracted attention in England, and it was some compensation to him that he received from archbishop Laud an office which brought him £100 a year without its being necessary he should live out of Holland, Chiefly, it appears, to secure the means of supporting his family, he retracted the opinions he had expressed, in his book _De Iltstorzas T,atinis, published in 1627, and he became reconciled to the church. In 1633 he was appointed professor of History in a new university at Amsterdam, where he seems to have devoted himself to the completion of the great works on which his fame rests. Among the most important of these not mentioned above were: Aristarehus sees da Arte Grammatica, Libri VII.; De Ilisto•kis Gracia, Libri IT; Commentariorum Blietoricorum alce Oratoriarum Inititutionum, Libri VI.; De Veterum Poetarum Tempo •ibus, Libri II. In 1649, Vossius was climbing the ladder of his library when it broke; he fell under the shelves and books, and died of the injuries he received.
The children of Vossius were remarkable for beauty, accomplishments, and learning. Gratius said of Vossius in epigrammatic Latin, that it was doubtful whether by his books !. or his children he had contributed most to adorn the age. Five of his sons, Dents, Francis, Gerard, Mathew, and Isaac, are known as authors.