Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Curriculum vitae
(8,494 words)

1. Terminology and state of research

The term curriculum vitae means “course of life”, and corresponds to German Lebenslauf, in use since the 18th century. In the 19th century it came to emphasize a description of the course of someone’s life [5] in the sense of a biographical narrative, but also in a formal structure for bureaucratic purposes. As early as the 18th century, Zedler’s Universal-Lexicon insisted: “But for a completely useful description of som…

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Ehmer, Josef, “Curriculum vitae”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 31 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_023191>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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