VOSSIUS, Gerard= Johannes, Dutch classical scholar and theologian: b. near Heidel berg, 1577; d. 17 March 1649. In 1578 the fam ily returned to Holland and settled at Dordrecht, vvhere Vossius went to sc.hool. He distinguished himself at the University of Leyden, and at the age of 22 returned to Dordrecht, to become principal of the high school. He was a most assiduous and indefatigable student. While principal of the theological college of Leyden 1614-19, he published a work on Pelagianism, (Historia Pelagiana,' in which he spoxe of the Arminians in an apologetic tone, and thereby brought upon himself the wrath of the Cal vinistic Dutch clergy; which caused him to be deprived of his office in the theological college. In 1622 he was appointed professor of rhetoric and chronology, and afterward of Greek, in the University of Leyden. In 1626 he•was invited to England; but accepted only a prebend (from Archbishop Laud), in Canterbury Cathedral, of the value of $500 per annum, without being re quired to live out of Holland. He was also
made LL.D. of Oxford. In his book (De His toricis Latinis) (1627) he retracted at least some of his former expressions of opinion, and 1632 he was appointed professor of history in the new university at Amsterdam, where he seems to have completed the great works on which his fame rests. Among the most impor tant not mentioned above were 'Aristarchus, sive de Arte Grammatica, Libri VII' ; (De His toricus Grwcis, Libri IV); (Commentariorum Rhetoricorum, sive Oratoriarum Institutionum, Libri VI' ; De Veterum Poetarum Temporibus, Libri IL) In 1649, as he was climbing the ladder of his library, it broke; he• fell under the shelves and books and died of his injuries.
Vossius' children were remarkable tor beauty, accomplishments and learning. Grotius said of him, in epigrammatic Latin, that it was doubt ful whether by his books or his children he had contributed most to adorn the age. Five of his sons, Denis, Francis, Gerard, Mathew and Isaac, are known as authors.