Casaubon, Isaac

Isaac Casaubon, (born Feb. 18, 1559, Geneva [Switzerland]—died July 1, 1614, London, Eng.), French classical scholar and theologian who was one of the leading scholars of the era.

Casaubon was born to French Huguenot refugees. Three years after his birth, the family returned to France and settled at Crest in Dauphiné. Casaubon was educated by his father until at age 19 he was sent to the Academy of Geneva, where in 1581 he became professor of Greek. He remained at the academy until 1596, making the acquaintances that eventually led to his long correspondence (beginning in 1594) with another leading classical scholar, Joseph Justus Scaliger.

From 1596 to 1599 Casaubon taught at the University of Montpellier. It was during this tenure, while he was engaged upon what is considered to be his masterwork—his edition of and commentary on the works of the ancient Greek grammarian Athenaeus—that he developed his unique style of illustrative commentary, at once apposite and profuse.

In 1600 Casaubon was called to Paris, where he became involved in a religious controversy between Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians that was to haunt him for the remainder of his life. Casaubon remained in Paris until 1610. He was assigned a pension by King Henry IV and succeeded to the salaried post of sublibrarian of the royal library.

In 1610, after the king’s assassination, Casaubon was invited to England, where he was naturalized in 1611. Though he retained his appointments in France, he never returned there.

In addition to translations with commentaries on the works of Theophrastus, Suetonius, Polybius, and others, Casaubon wrote a two-volume diary, the Ephemerides (published 1850).