Pasor, Matthaeus

Pasor, Matthaeus son of the preceding, is noted also for his philological as well as mathematical attainments. He was born at Herborn in 1599. and was educated at the university in Marburg. After teaching for some time privately in Hebrew and mathematics he went to England, and was created M.A. by the University of Oxford in 1624. Not finding any opportunity there of securing a professorship he went over to France, and attended lectures at Paris. He made himself master of the Syriac and Arabic, returned to Oxford in 1625, and was shortly after made lecturer on Oriental languages. In 1626 he was made temporary professor, and exercised this function till 1629, when he accepted an invitation to the professorship of moral philosophy at Groningen, which he entered upon in August of the same year. Upon the death of Muller, the mathematical professor, six years after, Pasor succeeded to that chair, and in 1645 he was raised to that of divinity, of which faculty he was then created doctor. On this occasion he resigned his mathematical professorship, but retained that of moral philosophy. In 1653 he made a visit to Nassau, his native country; and, going as far as Heidelberg, was entertained with great civility by the elector palatine. He died in January, 1657-8, at Groningen, having never been married. He published no books, for which he gave two admirable reasons: first, "Because he was not willing that youth should be diverted from reading the good books already published;" and, secondly, "Because he did not care that the booksellers should risk their money." (J.H.W.)