Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
At a glance:
- Series: Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries
- Categories: Philosophy, Literature, Publishing
- Subcategories: Authors, Writers, Philosophers, Theology, Theologians, Drama, Theater, Playwrights, Enlightenment
- Curriculum: 18th Century European History, German History
Article abstract: Lessing contributed to literature through his work in the field of literary criticism and drama, to philosophy in his efforts to bring the ideas of the European Enlightenment to Germany, and to theology in his founding of the philosophy of religion.
Early Life
Born the son of a Protestant minister, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing enrolled as a student of theology at the University of Leipzig in 1746, but he was soon attracted by literature and the theater. He wrote his first play, Der junge Gelehrte (the young scholar), a comedy which...
[The entire page is 2199 words long]
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