ABSTRACT
Hans-Georg Beck, in the title to his translation of the autobiographical description of Hieronymus Wolf’s life,2 called him the ‘father of German Byzantine Studies’ and it is under this honorific title that Wolf is known to the broader public, at least in academic circles. Previously, Wolf had even been called the ‘father of Byzantine history’.3 Whether such metaphors are appropriate is a matter for discussion. Wolf was, even though reluctantly, the first editor and translator of Byzantine texts in Germany, but I doubt his function can really be deemed ‘fatherhood’.
