Johann Heinrich Friedrich Karl Witte (July1, 1800 – March6, 1883) was a German jurist and scholar of Dante Alighieri.

Biography

Karl Witte was born in Lochau, now part of Schkopau. He was the son of pastor Karl Heinrich Gottfried Witte (1767–1845) who encouraged a fairly intense program of learning. When Karl Witte was nine, he spoke German, French, Italian, Latin, and Greek, and on April 10, 1814, at the age of 13, he became a doctor of philosophy at the University of Giessen in Germany. As a result, Witte was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the "youngest doctorate", a record that still stands; however, The Guinness Book of World Records lists his age as 12. Witte was the subject of a book written by his father: The Education of Karl Witte: Or, The Training of the Child. This book attracted criticism and soon fell into oblivion in Germany. He achieved his reputation as a Dante scholar in 1823 with his essay "The Art of Misunderstanding Dante". Witte died in Halle.