Johann von Wowern

Johann von Wowern was a German statesman, philologist, and lawyer. He is known for his 1603 work De Polymathia tractatio: integri operis de studiis veterum, the first work in Western Europe to use the term "polymath" in its title. Wowern defined polymathy as "knowledge of various matters, drawn from all kinds of studies ... ranging freely through all the fields of the disciplines, as far as the human mind, with unwearied industry, is able to pursue them". Von Wowern lists erudition, literature, philology, philomathy and polyhistory as synonyms.