BOEHNER, PHILOTHEUS HEINRICH

Medievalist, philosopher, and botanist; b. Lichtenau (Westphalia), Germany, Feb. 17, 1901; d. St. Bonaventure, New York, May 22, 1955. Boehner entered the Holy Cross (Saxonia) Province of the Order of Friars Minor in 1920 and was ordained in 1927. He began his career as a medievalist by translating into German É. Gilson's studies: Der heilige Bonaventura (Hellerau 1929), Der heilige Augustin, Eine Einführung in seine Lehre (Hellerau 1930), Die Mystik des heiligen Bernhard von Clairvaux (Wittlich 1936); and coauthored their Die Geschichte der christlichen Philosophie (Paderborn 1937). Majoring in botany and minoring in philosophy at the University of Münster (1929–33), he published as a doctoral dissertation über die thermonastischen Blütenbewegungen bei der Tulpe [Zeitschrift der Botanik 26(1933) 65–107]. He taught philosophy and biology at the Franciscan studium in Dorsten (1933–39); then he went to the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (Toronto) to edit the logic of William of Ockham. At the outbreak of World War II, he entered the U.S. and was naturalized. Noted for text editions and studies in 14th-century logic and Ockham's philosophy, he became first director of the Franciscan Institute research center at St. Bonaventure University; there he initiated the new series of Franciscan Studies (1941), Franciscan Institute Publications (1944), and the Cord, a review for Franciscan spirituality (1950).

Bibliography: g. gÁl, "Philotheus Boehner," in h. damico, ed., Medieval Scholarship. Biographical Studies on the Formation of a Discipline. Volume 3: Philosophy and the Arts. (Garland, N.Y.2000) 119–130. e. buytaert, "Bibliography of Fr. Philotheus Boehner, O.F.M.," Franciscan Studies 15 (1955) 321–331. "In Memoriam," Franciscan Studies 15 (1955) 101–105. Franziskanische Studien 37 (1955) 292–298. Cord 5 (1955) 206–215.

[a. b. wolter]