Carl Henry Kaeppel

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Carl Henry Kaeppel
Born
Carl Henry Kaeppel

(1887-01-13)13 January 1887
Mittagong, New South Wales, Australia
Died6 December 1946(1946-12-06) (aged 59)
Lewisham, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Known forClassical language scholar

Carl Henry Kaeppel MC BA (13 January 1887 – 6 December 1946), generally referred to as Carl Kaeppel, was an Australian scholar of Classical languages and geography.

History[edit]

Kaeppel was born at Nattai[1] near Mittagong, New South Wales, a son of (Carl William) Herbert Kaeppel (c. 1855 – 22 January 1888) and Emily Annette Kaeppel, née Edwards ( – 12 August 1927). His father died when Kaeppel was one year old.[2]

Kaeppel was educated at Sydney Grammar School of which he was captain in 1905, and at Sydney University, where he graduated BA with first-class honours in Classics in 1910,[3] having won the Salting exhibition, Cooper scholarship, and Cooper travelling scholarship,[4] which entitled him to go to Oxford, but illness prevented him from taking up the opportunity[5] but was able to undertake a long tour of Europe, studying languages. He returned to Australia, serving as a master at Sydney Grammar School ("Shore"), North Sydney for some years, then at The Armidale School, Armidale.[5]

He enlisted with First AIF in January 1916 and in mid-March as Lieut. Kaeppel left to serve overseas with the 18th Battalion. He was promoted captain and adjutant, was mentioned in dispatches and won the Military Cross.[6]

He worked at the British Museum on early geographic texts, and did a course in anthropology at London University under Professor Seligman.[7]

Kaeppel travelled extensively in Europe and learned eleven languages, but was no polyglot.[8]

He returned to Australia, where by 1922[9] he had been appointed senior classics master at Melbourne Grammar School by headmaster R. P. Franklin, a close friend (they had taught together at "Shore") but in 1931 was forced to leave on account of his heavy drinking. He moved to Sydney, where he survived by tutoring privately.[1]

Kaeppel engaged in research on Classical geography and anthropology, and articles based on this work, read before the Classical Association of Victoria, were published as Off the Beaten Track in the Classics in 1936. He converted to the Roman Catholic faith in that same year,[10] and devoted the last years of his life to Catholic education, teaching at Marist Brothers' High School, Darlinghurst (280–296 Liverpool Street, since demolished), and St Vincent's College, Potts Point. He edited a regular page on education for The Catholic Weekly.[11]

He died in Lewisham Private Hospital, aged 59. Requiem Mass was celebrated at St Canice's Church, Darlinghurst,[12] and his remains were buried in Waverley Cemetery.

Personal[edit]

Kaeppel married Muriel Beatrice Bailie on 8 January 1916. She left him while he was overseas[13] and they were divorced in 1920.[14]

Character[edit]

Kaeppel was described as a lovable character, loyal and trustworthy, who loved knowledge for its own sake.[11] He was a voracious reader, and not only retained all he read but could cross-reference that information and draw inferences and reach surprising conclusions from the mass of mental data. He carried in his head the makings of a multitude of books, though he only ever completed one or two. Despite being unable to pronounce an "R", so that "Greek" came out "Gweek", he was a welcome conversationalist and a writer[15] and speaker to a range of subjects on ABC radio.[16] An habitué of the Savage and Naval and Military clubs, he was a hard drinker,[1] generous to a fault, completely devoid of worldly ambition and died virtually penniless and (perhaps hastened from being gassed during the War) before his time.[8]

Recognition[edit]

Thanks to an anonymous benefaction, annual prizes for study in the classics, known as the Carl Kaeppel Memorial Prize, were instituted at the Marist Brothers' High School, Darlinghurst.[17]

Publications[edit]

  • Carl Kaeppel (1932). A Short History of Latin Literature. The Shakespeare Head Press.[18]
  • Carl Kaeppel (1936). Off the Beaten Track in the Classics.
  • Carl Kaeppel (ed.). Caesar, Gallic War. Book V. Shakespeare Head Press. Used by State Education Departments.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Ann G. Smith (1983). "Kaeppel, Carl Henry (1887–1946)". Australian Dictionary of Biography: Kaeppel, Carl Henry (1887–1946). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Family Notices". The Age. No. 10271. Victoria, Australia. 23 January 1888. p. 1. Retrieved 12 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Conferring of Degrees". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 22, 557. New South Wales, Australia. 2 May 1910. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Noted Classics Scholar Dies". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 21, 701. Victoria, Australia. 7 December 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b "Lieut. C. H. Kaeppel". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 24, 552. New South Wales, Australia. 14 September 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Lieut. C. H. Kaeppel". Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). 14 September 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Noted Classical Scholar's Death". The Sun (Sydney). No. 11, 505. New South Wales, Australia. 7 December 1946. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ a b A. R. Chisholm (17 April 1947). "In Memoriam: Carl Kaeppel". The Catholic Weekly. Vol. VI, no. 268. New South Wales, Australia. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "M.C.C. V. Western Plains". The Australasian. Vol. CXII, no. 2925. Victoria, Australia. 22 April 1922. p. 24. Retrieved 12 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Book Reviews". The Advocate (Melbourne). Vol. LXX, no. 4357. Victoria, Australia. 18 February 1937. p. 3. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ a b "Carl Kaeppel, Noted Classical Scholar and Journalist, Dies". The Catholic Weekly. Vol. V, no. 250. New South Wales, Australia. 12 December 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Carl Kaeppel, Noted Classical Scholar and Journalist, Dies". Catholic Weekly (Sydney, NSW : 1942 - 1954). 12 December 1946. p. 6. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  13. ^ "In Divorce". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 25, 558. New South Wales, Australia. 4 December 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Teacher Granted Decree". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 13, 794. Victoria, Australia. 28 May 1920. p. 10. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste". The Sun (Sydney). No. 1659. New South Wales, Australia. 13 January 1935. p. 19. Retrieved 12 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "Broadcasting Programmes for the Week". The Weekly Times. No. 3366. Victoria, Australia. 2 April 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Carl Kaeppel Memorial". The Catholic Weekly. Vol. VI, no. 281. New South Wales, Australia. 17 July 1947. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Latin Literature". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 29, 729. New South Wales, Australia. 15 April 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 11 August 2019 – via National Library of Australia.

External links[edit]

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