oa De latinisten Leopold, Leopold, Leopold en Leopold

There were four classicists named Leopold who obtained a PhD in the Netherlands between 1892-1904, one of whom was the poet J.H. Leopold (1865-1925). This is cause for considerable confusion, as one is easily given the mistaken impression that some of their theses were in fact written by the same person. This article aims to provide biographical clarity and charts the progress of their careers as indicative of the state of classical studies within Dutch academic circles during their lifetimes. It is argued that the scholarly emphasis on philology and textual criticism at times prevented classicists from pursuing their intellectual interests, thereby stymieing the development of the discipline as a whole.