Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (22 January 1729 in Kamenz (Saxony) – 15 February 1781 in Braunschweig) was a German poet and philosopher in the time of the enlightenment.
Life
Lessing was one of twelve children. His father was a Protestant priest. He went to school in Kamenz and got a stipendium for the Higher School in Meißen. From 1746 to 1748, he studied medicine and theology in Leipzig. In 1750, he moved to Berlin, where he met Voltaire. In 1752 he got the Magister (Master) degree from the university in Wittenberg.
He moved back to Leipzig in 1755, but returned later to Berlin. He traveled around in Europe and studied. He worked as a reporter. From 1760 to 1765, he worked as secretary for a general in Breslau (today: Wroclaw). Later he worked at the theater and became a librarian. Lessing got married in 1776. But 1778 his wife died.
In 1781, Lessing died.
Works
1747 | Damon oder die wahre Freundschaft (Damon, or true friendship) |
1748 | Der junge Gelehrte (The young savant) |
Der Misogyn | |
Die alte Jungfer (the old virgin) | |
1749 | Die Juden (The Jews) |
Der Freigeist (The free spirit) | |
1750 | Der Schatz (The Treasure) |
1755 | Miss Sara Sampson |
1759 | Fabeln (3 Bücher) (Fables, 3 books) |
Faust (Fragment) (Faust, a frament) | |
Philotas | |
1766 | Laokoon oder Über die Grenzen der Malerei und Poesie |
1767 | Minna von Barnhelm |
Hamburgische Dramaturgie (1767-1769) | |
1772 | Emilia Galotti |
1777 | Das Testament Johannis |
Über den Beweis des Geistes und der Kraft | |
1778 | Anti-Goeze |
1779 | Nathan der Weise |
1780 | Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts |
1781 | Die eheliche Liebe (Gedicht) |
Ernst und Falk - Gespräche für Freimaurer |
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Media
Grave, Brunswick
Second edition of Nathan the Wise in its first year of publication 1779. In the Jewish Museum of Switzerland's collection.
Other websites
Wikisource has original writing related to this article: |
- In German
- Fabeln von Lessing Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine im Literaturnetz
- Lessing-Akademie Wolfenbüttel
- Lessing-Museum in Kamenz
- Biographie
- Biographie in ADB[dead link]
- Briefe, die Neueste Literatur betreffend
- Deutscher Bildungsserver: Pädagogische Materialien zu Gotthold Ephraim Lessing [1]
- Einführung in die Dramentheorie[dead link] Lessings
- kostenlose Hörbuchabhandlung als MP3: Über die Wahrheit
- Das Lessing-Denkmal in Wolfenbüttel Archived 2007-02-19 at the Wayback Machine