List of Active-Language Classicists

This page lists classicists who have devoted significant professional effort into speaking Classical languages in an active way, for conversation, teaching, and other spontaneous verbal communication.[1][2][3][4][5]

Many of these individuals have careers in academia, but not all of them. They work as scholars, instructors, organizers, authors, or academic researchers.

The listed individuals are distinctive because the majority of Classics scholars in modern times devote little effort to speaking Classical languages. In fact they frequently discourage this activity as mostly a waste of time.[6][7][8] The individuals listed here are notable exceptions.

For the purpose of this list, we use the same definition of "Classical languages" as is used at Classics departments major European and North American universities, and indeed the same definition used at the Wikipedia Classics page: Latin and Ancient Greek.

However, specialists in other classical languages can also be listed here, provided that their professional activity is the same: The active use of one or several ancient and probably dead classical languages as spoken, conversational languages.

Individuals

Name Lifespan Professional description Institutional affiliation(s) Location(s) Language(s)
Arcadius Avellanus 1851-1935 scholar, teacher, editor, organizer Professor at St. John's College in Brooklyn Hungary; U.S. Latin
John Stuart Blackie 1809-1895 classical scholar and man of letters Prof. of Greek at Edinburgh U; Prof. of Humanities at U. of Aberdeen Scotland Ancient Greek, Latin
Jean Capelle (politician) 1909-1983 politician First international congress for living Latin (Avignon, 1956); French Ministry of National Education France Latin
Carlo Egger 1914-2003 Catholic abbott; classicist Latinitas Foundation; Vatican Secretariat of State South Tyrol, Italy; Rome, Italy Latin
Reginald Foster 1939-2020 Catholic priest; renowned teacher of spoken Latin Vatican Secretariat of State; Gregorian University Rome, Italy; Wisconsin, U.S. Latin
Alexis Hellmer 1984- classicist Founder of Studium Angelopolitanum; Rusticatio Virginiana; Conventiculum Bostoniense Mexico Latin
Stephen Hill classicist, teacher Wyoming Catholic College;[9] Polis Institute[9] U.S. Ancient Greek, Latin
Eduard Johnson 1840-1903 classicist, teacher, author, journalist and local historian Plauen Gymnasium; Chemnitz Gymnasium; Vogtländische Anzeiger (local German newspaper) Saxony, Germany Ancient Greek, Latin
Leni Ribeiro Leite classicist Federal University of Espírito Santo;[4] U. of Kentucky;[10] Conventiculum Lexingtoniense Kentucky, U.S.; Brazil Latin
Tatiana Marvina teacher Polis Institute[11][12] Jerusalem, Israel Ancient Greek
Milena Minkova classicist, author Pontifical Gregorian University;[4] Pontifical Salesian University;[4] U. of Kentucky;[4] Academia Latinitati Fovendae (ALF);[13] Conventiculum Lexingtoniense[5] Kentucky, U.S.; Rome, Italy Latin
Luigi Miraglia 1965- teacher, classicist Founder of the Accademia Vivarium Novum; Academia Latinitati Fovendae (ALF);[13] Pontifical Academy for Latin Rome, Italy Latin
Luke Amadeus Ranieri teacher, author, prolific YouTuber[14] Ancient Language Institute;[15] Paideia Institute;[16][17] Polis Institute[18] U.S. Latin, Ancient Greek
Christophe Rico classicist, author, dean Dean of the Polis Institute;[19][20] University of Strasbourg[19] Jerusalem, Israel Ancient Greek, Latin (and others)
W. H. D. Rouse 1863-1950 teacher, translator, author, headmaster Cambridge University; Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching; Loeb Classical Library editor; Rugby School; The Perse School (headmaster)[21] U.K. Latin
Wilfried Stroh 1939-2025 philologist, academic U. of Munich; Academia Latinitati Fovendae (ALF)[13] Munich, Germany Latin
Jenny Teichmann teacher, organizer, YouTuber[22] Argos Didaskei;[23] Paideia Institute;[24] Τρίοδος Trivium[22] Germany Ancient Greek
John Traupman 1923-2019 classicist, author Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, U.S. Latin
Terence Tunberg 1950- classicist, author U. of Kentucky; Academia Latinitati Fovendae (ALF);[13] Conventiculum Lexingtoniense[5] Kentucky, U.S. Latin
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs 1825-1895 lawyer, jurist, journalist, writer, early gay rights activist district court of Hildesheim; Accademia Pontaniana (Naples, Italy) Germany; Italy Latin

See also

Latin edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ancient Greek test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Notes and references

  1. ^ Lanzillotta, Lee (2025). "Pro Latinitate Activa: a student's perspective on Active Latin". Journal of Classics Teaching. 26 (51): 101–102. doi:10.1017/S205863102400103X.
  2. ^ "Ars longa, vita brevis: Active Latin in the Classroom". antigonejournal.org. October 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
  3. ^ "Lessons from modern languages can reboot Latin learning". University of Cambridge Research. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kuhner, John Byron (2018). "Global Latinists". The New Criterion. 36 (6): 4. Retrieved 2025-12-09. Note: See "External Links" section for link to full text
  5. ^ a b c Chapman, Heather (2014-07-24). "'Dead' Language Resurrected at UK". University of Kentucky Now University News. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  6. ^ Ball, Robert; Ellsworth, J. D. (1996). "The Emperor's New Clothes: Hyperreality and the Study of Latin". The Modern Language Journal. 80 (1): 77–84. doi:10.2307/329060. JSTOR 329060.
  7. ^ "Spoken Latin in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance". 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  8. ^ "Barbarisms at the Gate: An Analysis of Some Perils in Active Latin Pedagogy". 2016. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  9. ^ a b "Stephen Hill, PhD". Wyoming Catholic College. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  10. ^ A Fish. "A&S Professor Brings South American Works Written in Latin to Modern Readers". University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Tatiana Marvina". Topline. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  12. ^ "Ancient Greek Fall 2025". Polis. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d "Index Academiae sodalium". academialatinitatifovendae.com. Retrieved 2025-12-09. Note: List of members of the Academia Latinitati Fovendae (ACL)
  14. ^ "Interview With Luke Ranieri". Squarespace. Retrieved 2025-10-18.
  15. ^ "About the Ancient Language Institute". ancientlanguage.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  16. ^ "Lectures in Latin". paideiainstitute.org. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  17. ^ "Epic Origins of Western Education : Lecture in LATIN : Luke Ranieri : Living Latin in NYC". youtube.com (in Latin). 6 May 2025. Retrieved 2025-10-08. Note: This is a lecture delivered in Latin by Ranieri, and posted to the "Paideia Media" YouTube channel managed by the Paideia Institute.
  18. ^ "University of Dallas - Ancient Greek - Summer 2025". www.polisjerusalem.org. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  19. ^ a b "Prof. Christophe Rico". polisjerusalem.org. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  20. ^ "Christophe Rico". ebaf.edu. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  21. ^ "Teaching Latin". New York Times. New York, NY. 1925-01-18. p. E6. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  22. ^ a b "Jenny Teichmann". delphiforum.gr. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
  23. ^ "Summer School 2025 - Argos Didaskei". argos-didaskei.com. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  24. ^ "Introductory Intensive Greek w/ Teichmann". paideiainstitute.org. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
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