Estienne, Henri II

Henri II Estienne, Estienne also spelled Étienne, Latin Stephanus, (born 1528, Paris, France—died 1598, Lyon), scholar-printer, grandson of Henri Estienne, founder of the family printing firm in Paris, and son of Robert I Estienne, who left Paris to establish a printing firm in Geneva.

Educated in classical literature, Estienne traveled as a young man in Italy, England, and Flanders, studying ancient manuscripts and visiting scholars before joining his father in Geneva. There he began by publishing the results of his own researches in the first printed editions of several ancient Greek texts. In 1559 he succeeded to ownership of the press at Geneva.

In 1566 Estienne published a Latin edition of Herodotus, with an apologia accompanied by a French version. This “Apologie pour Hérodote,” perhaps Estienne’s most famous work, caused Estienne trouble in Geneva. Ostensibly designed to show how the strange stories in Herodotus are paralleled by equally strange ones in modern times, it is bitterly satirical of his own age. Some passages were most objectionable to Genevan churchmen, and Estienne was arrested and tried and was obliged to cancel the offending pages. Even so, the book went through 12 editions in 16 years.

In classical scholarship Estienne’s output continued to be voluminous: his Greek and Latin text of Plutarch, 13 vol. (1572), is an example. His greatest work was his Greek dictionary, Thesaurus graecae linguae, 5 vol. (1572), a masterpiece and a monument of lexicography that appeared in new editions as late as the 19th century.

In 1578 Estienne published a defense of pure French against Italianizing innovations; again Genevan authorities were displeased. Thereafter he spent a year in France, where he was well received by King Henry III, and his new book in praise of the French language was printed in Paris in 1579.

Estienne returned to Geneva in 1580, but after 1583 he spent much time away from his home, wandering from city to city in search of a congenial patron. The later publications of his press thus suffered to some extent from neglect. He died on a visit to France.