Carl Henry Kaeppel

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Carl Henry Kaeppel (13 January 1887 – 6 December 1946) was an Australian scholar known for his work in classical languages and geography.

He was born at Nattai near Mittagong, New South Wales, to Herbert Kaeppel and Emily Edwards; his father died when he was one. He attended Sydney Grammar School, where he was captain in 1905, and then studied Classics at Sydney University, graduating with first-class honours in 1910. He won several scholarships that would have taken him to Oxford, but illness prevented the trip. He spent a long time in Europe studying languages.

After returning to Australia, Kaeppel taught at Sydney Grammar School and then at The Armidale School. He joined the Australian Imperial Force in January 1916 and served in World War I with the 18th Battalion. He rose to captain and adjutant, was mentioned in dispatches, and received the Military Cross.

Following the war, he worked at the British Museum on early geographic texts and studied anthropology in London under Seligman. He travelled widely in Europe and learned eleven languages.

By 1922 he had become senior classics master at Melbourne Grammar School, appointed by headmaster R. P. Franklin. He left in 1931 because of heavy drinking and moved to Sydney to tutor privately. He conducted research in classical geography and anthropology, with articles read before the Classical Association of Victoria and later published as Off the Beaten Track in the Classics (1936).

In 1936 he converted to Roman Catholicism and spent his last years teaching Catholic education, at Marist Brothers’ High School in Darlinghurst and at St Vincent’s College in Potts Point. He wrote a regular education column for The Catholic Weekly. He died in Lewisham, New South Wales, at age 59. A requiem Mass was held at St Canice’s Church, Darlinghurst, and he was buried in Waverley Cemetery.

Kaeppel married Muriel Bailie in 1916; she left him while he was overseas and they divorced in 1920.

Friends described him as a lovable, loyal, and curious man who loved knowledge for its own sake. He was a voracious reader and could recall a great deal of information. He was a good conversationalist and spoke on topics on ABC radio. He enjoyed social clubs but drank heavily, and he died virtually penniless, with some saying his wartime exposure to gas may have hastened his death. After his death, the Carl Kaeppel Memorial Prize was established at Marist Brothers’ High School to reward students studying classics.