Casaubon, Isaac

Related Category: Scholars, Antiquarians, and Orientalists: Biographies

(ēzäk´ käzōbôN´), 1559–1614, English classical scholar and theologian, b. Geneva. He became professor of Greek at Geneva and at Montpellier and by his learning attracted the notice of Henry IV, who made him royal librarian. After Henry's death, he was invited to England by the archbishop of Canterbury. He joined the Church of England and in 1610 James I granted him a royal stipend. The next year Casaubon became an English subject, remaining in England the rest of his life. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Casaubon's great works are his editions of the classics, particularly Athenaeus and the Characters of Theophrastus. His diary, Ephemerides, was edited by his son, Florence Étienne Méric Casaubon, 1599–1671, who was also a classical scholar.