Johann Caspar von Orelli

He was born at Zürich of a distinguished Italian-speaking family from Locarno which had taken refuge in German-speaking Switzerland at the time of the Protestant Reformation.

He had already published (1814) an edition, with critical notes and commentary, of the Antidosis of Isocrates, the complete text of which, based upon the manuscripts in the Ambrosian and Laurentian libraries, had been made known by Andreas Mustoxydis of Corfu.

[1] He was a most liberal-minded man, both in politics and religion, an enthusiastic supporter of popular education and a most inspiring teacher.

He took great interest in the struggle of the Greeks for independence, and strongly favoured the appointment of the notorious David Strauss to the chair of dogmatic theology at Zürich, which led to the disturbance of September 6, 1839 and the fall of the liberal government.

[1] The three scholarly works upon which his reputation rests are the following: His editions of Plato (1839–1841, including the old scholia, in collaboration with A. W. Winckelmann) and Tacitus (1846–1848) also deserve mention.