Theodor Heinrich Gottfried Keil (25 May 1822,Gressow – 27 August 1894,Friedrichroda) was a Germanclassical philologist. He was a son-in-law to educatorFriedrich August Eckstein (1810–1885).[1]
He studied classical philology at the Universities ofGöttingen andBonn, receiving his doctorate in 1843 with a textual critique on the Roman poetPropertius. From 1844 to 1846 he conducted manuscript studies at libraries in Italy. After his return to Germany, he became an instructor at theFrancke Foundation Pädagogium inHalle an der Saale.[2]
In 1859 he was named successor toCarl Friedrich Nagelsbach as chair of classical philology at theUniversity of Erlangen. In 1869 he became a full professor of classical philology at theUniversity of Halle as a successor toTheodor Bergk.[2]
The focus of his work were studies of the ancient Latin grammarians (Grammatici latini, eight volumes, 1855–1880) and critical editions involving the works ofCato the Elder,Varro andPliny the Younger.[2][3] In 1875, he began the seriesDissertationes philologicae Halenses (13 volumes up to the year 1894).[4]
