Joachim Heinrich Campe was a German author and publisher. He was born in 1746 and died in 1818. In 1777 he became director of the Educational Institute of Dessau, and afterwards superintendent of the schools in the duchy of Brunswick. At Brunswick he became the head of a publishing house which soon became famous over all Germany, his own works, consisting mostly of books for youth, such as Robinson the Younger, adapted from Defoe, Discovery of America, etc, contributing greatly to extend its reputation. Research Joachim Campe
Joachim du Bellay was a French poet. He was born in 1524 and died in 1560. Known as the French Ovid, he joined Ronsard, Daurat, Jodelle, Belleau, Baif, and De Tisard in forming the 'Pleiad,' a society the object of which was to bring the French language on a level with the classical tongues. Bellay's first contribution was La Defense et Illustration de la Langue Francoise. His chief publications in verse are Recueil de Poesie; a collection of love-sonnets called L'Olive; Les Antiquitez de Rome; Les Regrets; and Les Jeux Rustiques. In 1555 he became canon of Notre Dame, and a short time before his death he was made archbishop of Bordeaux. Spenser translated some of his sonnets into English. Research Joachim du Bellay
Joachim Lelewel was a Polish historian. He was born in 1786 at Warsaw and died in 1861. He was professor of history at Vilna from 1814 to 1824, when he was dismissed for taking part in secret insurrectionary movements. He was later banished in 1829 for being a prominent leader in the Polish revolution, and died in Paris. Research Joachim Lelewel
Joan Baez is an American professional folksinger. She was Born in 1941 at Staten Island. She studied at Boston University, but left to sing in Bostoncoffee houses. Her clear soprano voice and simple, effective guitar accompaniments created a distinctive style that became increasingly popular after her Newport Folk Festival appearance in 1959 and her recording debut in 1960. Baez worked for civil rights, in the antiwar movement, and for human rights in south-east Asia, both through her singing and by founding Humanitas, an international human rights organization, and the Institute for the Study of Non-Violence. Research Joan Baez
Joan Creanga was a Romanianwriter. He was born in 1837 and died in 1889. His works were primarily prose based upon folk-tales and written in popular language. Research Joan Creanga
Joanna Baillie was a Scottish writer. She was born in 1762 at Bothwell, Lanarkshire and died in 1851. She removed in early life to London, where her brother, Matthew Baillie, was settled as a physician. Here in 1798 she published her first work, entitled A Series of Plays, in which she attempted to delineate the stronger passions by making each passion the subject of a tragedy and a comedy. The series was followed up by a second volume in 1802, and a third in 1812. A second series appeared in 1836, and a complete edition of her whole dramatic works in 1850. She also published a volume of miscellaneous poetry, including songs, in 1841. Her only plays performed on the stage were a tragedy entitled the 'Family Legend', brought out at Edinburgh under the patronage of Sir Walter Scott; and 'De Montfort', brought out by John Kemble. Research Joanna Baillie
Joanna Southcott was an English religious fanatic. She was born in 1750 at Gittisham, Devon and died in 1814 of brainfever. After working as a domestic servant and shop assistant, she joined the Methodists and about 1790 began to write prophecies which attracted a good deal of attention. He followers became numerous and in 1802 she settled in London and a chapel was opened for her followers. She put forward the idea that she was about to become the mother of Shiloh, the second Christ, and great preparations were made but she died of brainfever. Research Joanna Southcott
Joannes Scotus Erigena was a scholar and metaphysician. He was about 800 to 810 probably in Ireland and died in about 875. He spent a great part of his life at the court of Charles the Bald of France, and was placed at the head of the school of the palace. The king further imposed upon him the double task of translating into Latin the Greek works of the pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite, and of composing a treatise against Godeschalc on Predestination and Free-will. This treatise, and another, De Divisioue Naturae, contained many views in opposition to the teachings of the church. They were condemned by the councils of Valencia in 855 and of Langres in 859, and PopeNicholas I demanded the immediate disgrace of the culprit. His subsequent history is not known. Research Joannes Erigena
Joao de Barros was a Portuguese historian. He was born in 1496 and died in 1570. He was attached to the court of King Emmanuel, who, after the publication in 1520 of Barros' Romance, the Emperor Olarimond, urged him to undertake a history of the Portuguese in India, which appeared thirty-two years later. King John III appointed Barros governor of the Portuguese settlements in Guinea, and general agent for these colonies, further presenting him in 1530 with the province of Maranham in Brazil, for the purpose of colonization. For his losses by the last enterprise the king indemnified him, and he died in retirement in 1570. Besides his standard work, Asia Portuguesa, he wrote a moral dialogue on compromise, and the first Portuguese Grammar. Research Joao de Barros
Joel Barlow was an American poet and diplomat. He was born in 1755 and died in 1812. After an active and changeful life as a chaplain, lawyer, editor, land-agent, lecturer, and consul, he went to Paris and acquired a fortune. On his return to America he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France in 1811, but died near Cracow in 1812 on his way to meet Napoleon. His principal poem, the Columbiad, dealing with American history from the time of Columbus, was published in 1807. Research Joel Barlow
Joel Parker was an American politician and jurist. He was born in 1816 and died in 1888. He was a member of the New Jersey Assembly from 1847 to 1850, and prosecuting attorney from 1853 to 1857. He was Governor of New Jersey from 1863 to 1866 and in 1870. The National Labor Convention in 1872 nominated him for Vice-President of the United States. He was a Judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1880 to 1888. Research Joel Parker
Joel R Poinsett was an American politician. He was born in 1779 and died in 1851. He was sent to South America in 1809 by Madison to ascertain the prospects of the revolutionists. He represented South Carolina in the US Congress as a Republican from 1821 to 1825. He was sent to Mexico as Commissioner in 1822, and was Minister there from 1825 to 1839. He was an ardent opponent of nullification. He was. Secretary of War in Van Buren's Cabinet from 1837 to 1841. Research Joel Poinsett
Johan Gustafsson Baner was a Swedish soldier. He was born in 1598 and died in 1641. He was a general in the Thirty Years' war. He made his first campaigns in Poland and Russia, and accompanied Gustavus Adolphus, who held him in high esteem, to Germany. After the death of Gustavus in 1632 he had the chief command of the Swedish army, and in 1634 invaded Bohemia, defeated the Saxons at Wittstock, on the 24th of September, 1636, and took Torgau. He ravaged Saxony again in 1639, gained another victory at Chemnitz, and in 1640 defeated Piccolomini. In January, 1641, he very nearly took Ratisbon by surprise. Research Johan Baner
Johan Niklas Bystrom was a Swedish sculptor. He was born in 1783 and died in 1848. He studied under Sergell at Rome, whence he returned in 1816 with an almost complete portrait-statue of Marechal Bernadotte as Mars. Research Johan Bystrom
Johan Gutenberg was the reputed inventor of printing with movable types. He was born about the end of the 14th century at Mayence or Mainz and died in 1468. Little or nothing is known of his early life. In 1434 he is said to have been living in Strasburg, and in 1436 to have started or attempted to start a printing office there; but this seems false. In 1448 we find him at Mainz, where he formed, two years after, a copartnership with Johann Fust, and established mainly with the money of the latter, a press, in which the Mazarin Bible, the Letters of Indulgence, and the Appeal against the Turks were printed. After five years this connection was dissolved, and Johann Fust sued Johan Gutenberg for large advances which he could not pay, and by a judgment at law obtained possession of most of the printing materials, with which, in company with his son-in-law Schoffer, he continued to print books. After this, according to some, Johan Gutenberg carried on a separate printing establishment but this is doubtful, and there is no book or printed matter which can certainly be ascribed to Johan Gutenberg after the date 1454. Research Johan Gutenberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet. He was born in 1804 at Jacobstadt and died in 1877. From 1844 to 1859 he was professor at Borga. his first volumes of poems appeared between 1830 and 1841 and won general favour by their simplicity and purity of style, their idyllic charm, warm patriotic feeling, admirable descriptions of scenery, life-like characterisations, and sweet and serene humour. His prefatory poem, 'Vart Land' was selected as the national hymn of Finland. Research Johan Runeberg
Johan Eric Rydqvist was a Swedish author. He was born in 1800 at Gothenburg and died in 1877. From 1828 to 1832 he edited the literary journal Heimdall and in 1849 he won the Academy of Antiquities prize by a treatise on the oldest dramas of Scandinavia and was subsequently elected a member of the Swedish Academy. Research Johan Rydqvist
Johann Christoph Adelung was a German philologist. He was born in 1732 and died in 1806. In 1759 he was appointed professor in the Protestant academy at Erfurt, and two years after removed to Leipzig, where he applied himself to the works by which he made so great a name, particularly his German dictionary, Grammatisch-kritisches Worterbuch der hochdeutschen Mundart, published in Leipzig between 1774 and 1786, and his Mithridates, a work on general philology. In 1787 he was appointed librarian of the public library in Dresden, an office which he held until his death. Research Johann Adelung
Johann Agricola was a German theologian. He was born in 1492 at Eisleben and died in 1566. He was the son of a tailor at Eisleben, and was called, from his native city, master of Eisleben. One of the most active among the theologians who propagated the doctrines of Luther, in 1537, when professor in Wittenberg, he stirred up the Antinomian controversy with Luther and Melanchthon. He afterwards lived at Berlin, where he died in 1566, after a life of controversy. Besides his theological works he composed a work explaining the common German proverbs.
Johann Valentin Andreae was a German author. He was born in 1586 and died in 1654. He was the author of numerous tracts, several of them of an amusing and satirical character. He was long believed to be the originator of the Rosicrucian order, but subsequently it was thought he was probably ridiculing the order in his works. Research Johann Andreae
Johann Arndt was a celebrated German mystic theologian. He was born in 1555 and died in 1621. His principal work, Wahres Ohristenthum (True Christianity), was still popular in Germany in the 19th century, and has been translated into almost all European languages. Research Johann Arndt
Johann Joachim Becher was a German chemist. He was born in 1635 and died in 1682. He became a professor at Mainz; was elected a member of the Imperial council at Vienna in 1660, but fell into disgrace and subsequently resided in various parts of Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden, and Great Britain. His chief work, Physica Subterranea, containing many of the fanciful theories of the alchemists, was published in 1669, and enlarged in 1681. Research Johann Becher
Johann Matthaus Bechstein was a German naturalist. He was born in 1757 and died in 1822. He wrote a popular natural history of Germany, and various works on forestry, in which subject his labours were highly valuable. In Britain he was best known by a treatise on cage birds. Research Johann Bechstein
Johann Beckmann was a German writer on the industrial arts and agriculture. He was born in 1739 and died in 1811. He was for a short time professor of physics and natural history at St Petersburg, and afterwards for almost forty-five years professor of philosophy and economy in Gottingen. His History of Inventions is well known in the English translation of it. Research Johann Beckmann
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach was a German naturalist. He was born in 1752 and died in 1840. He studied at Jena and Gottingen, and wrote on the occasion of his graduation as MD a famous thesis on the varieties of the human race before becoming professor of medicine, librarian and keeper of the museum at Gottingen in 1778 where he lectured for fifty years. His principal works are the Institutiones Physiologicse, long a common text-book; Handbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie (Handbook of Comparative Anatomy), the best treatise that had appeared up to its date; and Collectio Graniorum Diversarum Gentium. The last work, published between 1790 and 1828, gives descriptions and figures of his extensive collection of skulls, still preserved at Gottingen. He advocated the doctrine of the unity of the human species, which he divided into five varieties, Caucasian, Mongolian, Negro, American, and Malay. His anthropological treatises, and the memoirs of his life by Marx and Flourens, were translated into English. Research Johann Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Bottger (Johann Friedrich Bottiger) was a German alchemist and the inventor of the celebrated Meissen porcelain. He was born in 1682 and died in 1719. His search for the philosopher's stone or secret of making gold led him into many difficulties. At last he found refuge at the court of Saxony, where the elector erected a laboratory for him, and forced him to turn his attention to the manufacture of porcelain, resulting in the invention associated with his name. Research Johann Bottger
Johann Bugenhagen was a German reformer. He was born in 1485 and died in 1558. He was a friend and helper of Luther in preparing his translation of the Bible. He fled from his Catholic superiors to Wittenberg in 1521, where he was made, in 1522, professor of theology. He effected the union of the Protestant free cities with the Saxons, and introduced into Brunswick, Hamburg, Lubeck, Pomerania, Denmark, and many other places, the Lutheran service and churchdiscipline. He translated the Bible into Low German and wrote an Exposition of the Book of Psalms and a History of Pomerania. Research Johann Bugenhagen
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was a German explorer. He was born in 1784 at Lausanne and died in 1817 at Cairo. He came to England in 1806, and undertook a journey of exploration to the interior of Africa for the African Association. He started in 1809, assuming an Oriental name and costume; spent some time in Syria, thence visited Egypt and Nubia; spent several months at Mecca, and visited Medina; and after a short stay in Egypt died at Cairo while preparing for his African journey. His works are: Travels in Nubia (1819); Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (1822); Travels in Arabia (1829); Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys (1830); and Arabic Proverbs (1831). Research Johann Burckhardt
Johann Buxtorf was a German orientalist. He was born in 1564 and died in 1629. He became professor at Basel. His chief work is Lexicon Chaldaicum Talmudicum et Rabbinieum. Research Johann Buxtorf
Johann Christian Bach was a German composer. He was born in 1735 at Leipzig and died in 1782. He was given his first musical training by his father (Johann Sebastian Bach). In 1750, when his father died, he went to Berlin to study with his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He spent eight years in Italy, from 1754 to 1760 as music director for Count Antonio Litta in Milan and then from 1760 to 1762 as organist at the MilanCathedral. During this period he also studied in Bologna with the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Martini. In 1762 Bach settled in London and soon became music master to the queen. Part of his success was the result of his mastery of the pleasant, tuneful style of Italian opera, which was then fashionable in London. From 1764 until his death he and another German composer living in London, Carl Friedrich Abel produced a series of concerts that were famous because of the composers who wrote for them. One was the seven-year old prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bach himself wrote about a dozen operas and many symphonies, concertos, piano pieces, and chamber music. Research Johann Christian Bach
Johann Amos Comenius was a Czech educational reformer. He was born in 1592 at Moravia and died in 1671. He was chosen bishop of the Moravian Brethren, and suffered much in the persecutions of that body. He advised throughout Europe on the teaching of languages, suggesting that they should be taught by conversation and that pictures helped. He was the author of upwards of ninety works, the most important of which are Janua Linguarum Reserata (1631) and Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658). His high reputation brouglit him invitations from England, Sweden, and Hungary to aid in organizing public instruction; and the above works were frequently translated and imitated. Research Johann Comenius
Johann Cruyff is a Dutch Association Football player. He was born in 1947. He played for AmsterdamAjax, Barcelona and for the Netherlands, becoming one of the leading goal scorers in the Dutch league. He captained the Dutch side which reached the final of the 1974 World Cup against Germany. Research Johann Cruyff
Johann Heinrich Dannecker was a German sculptor. He was born in 1758 and died in 1841. Early signs of talent recommended him to the notice of Charles, duke of Wurtemberg. As a student at the Karlschule he greatly distinguished himself, was appointed courtsculptor, and visited Paris and Rome. In 1790 he returned to Wurtemberg, and became professor of the fine arts at Stuttgart. His best works are his statue of Christ and his Ariadne Seated on a Panther. His portrait busts are excellent; those of Schiller, Lavater, the Duchess Stephanie of Baden, deserve particular mention. Research Johann Dannecker
Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach was a German surgeon. He was born in 1792 at Konigsberg and died in 1847. After having studied at Bonn and Paris he settled in Berlin, where his talent as an operator soon attracted notice. Surgery is particularly indebted to him for new methods of forming artificial noses, eyelids, lips, etc, and curing squinting, stammering, etc. Research Johann Dieffenbach
Johann Conrad Dippel was a German theologian and alchemist. He was born in 1672 and died in 1734. He studied theology, defended the orthodox party against the Pietists, led a turbulent life at Strasburg, and then joined the Pietists until an unfortunate tractate placed him in disfavour with both parties. He then turned his attention to alchemy, and during a residence at Berlin produced the oil called after him from which indirectly followed the discovery of Prussian blue or Berlin blue. After various adventures and wanderings in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany he died in 1734. Research Johann Dippel
Johann Joseph Ignaz Dollinger was a German theologian and leader of the Old Catholic party. He was born in 1799 at Bamberg, in Bavaria and died in 1890. In 1822 he entered the church, and soon after published The Doctrine of the Eucharist during the First Three Centuries, a work which won him the position of lecturer on churchhistory at the University of Munich. In later years he took an active part in the political struggles of the time as representative of the university in the Bavarianparliament, and as delegate at the Diet of Frankfort voted for the total separation of church and state. In 1861 he delivered a course of lectures, in which he attacked the temporal power of the Papacy. But it was first at the (Ecumenical Council of 1869-70 that Dr. Dollinger became famous over Europe by his opposition to the doctrine of Papal infallibility. In consequence of his opposition to the Vatican decrees he was excommunicated in 1871 by the Archbishop of Munich. A few months later be was elected rector of the University of Munich, where he died in 1890. Among his numerous works are Origins of Christianity; A Sketch of Luther; The Papacy; Lectures on the Reunion of the Churches; Papal Legends of the Middle Ages, etc. Research Johann Dollinger
Johann Peter Eckermann was a German writer. He was born in 1792 and died in 1854. In 1813 he served in the army against the French, and was afterwards appointed to a small governmental post. He finally settled in Weimar, where he became private secretary to Johann Goethe. After Johann Goethe's death he published his Conversations with Goethe, a book which has been translated into all European languages. Research Johann Eckermann
Johann Franx Encke was a German astronomer. He was born in 1791 at Hamburg and died in 1865. He studied under Karl Gauss at Gottingen and during the war of Liberation (1813-1815) he served as artillerist in the German army, and after the peace became assistant in the observatory of Seeberg, near Gotha and later became director successively of the observatories of Seeberg in 1822 and Berlin in 1825. He vastly improved the ephemeris of Berlin, guided the execution of the great star-maps of the Berlin Academy and superintended the erection of the new Berlin observatory in 1832. While at Seeberg he calculated the orbit of the comet observed by Mechain, Caroline Herschel, and Rons, predicted its return, and detected a gradualacceleration of movement, ascribed by him to the presence of a resisting medium. The comet is now known as Encke's comet. The fame of his works Die Entfernung der Sonne (The Distance of the Sun) and Der Venusdurchgang von 1769 (Transit of Venus of 1769) led to his appointment as director of the Berlin Observatory, a position which he held until his death in 1865. Research Johann Encke
Johann Eduard Erdmann was a German philosopher. He was born in 1805 and died in 1892. He studied theology at Dorpat and Berlin; in 1829 became a clergyman, but in 1832 returned to Berlin and took his degree in philosophy. In 1836 he became professor extraordinary of philosophy at Halle, being appointed ordinary professor in 1839. He wrote numerous philosophical works, mostly characterized by Hegelian tendencies, including: Body and Soul, Nature and Creation, Outlines of Psychology, Outlines of Logic and Metaphysics, Psychological Letters, Belief and Knowledge, etc. His greatest work is his Outlines of the History of Philosophy, which was translated into English in 1889. Research Johann Erdmann
Johann Albrecht Fabricius was a German scholar. He was born in 1668 at Leipzig and died in 1736. He became professor of rhetoric and moral philosophy at Hamburg, and published many learned works, amongst which are his Bibliotheca Latina, Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica, Bibliotheca Antiquaria.
Johann Christian Fabricius was a German entomologist. He was born in 1748 and died in 1808. After studying at Copenhagen, Leyden, Edinburgh, and under Linnaeus at Upsala, he obtained the post of professor of natural history in the University of Kiel. In 1775 appeared his System of Entomology, which gave to this science an entirely new form. In 1778 he published his Philosophia Entomologica, written upon the plan of the well-known Philosophia Botanica of Linnaeus. Research Johann Fabricius
Johann Gottlieb Fichte was a German philosopher. He was born in 1762 at Rommenau and died in 1814. Despite being born of poor parents, he was educated at Jena University, Leipzig and Wittenberg. He spent several years as a private tutor in Switzerland and in Prussia Proper, and in Konigsberg made the acquaintance of the great Kant, who showed some appreciation of his talents. His Versuch einer Kritik aller Offenbarung (Essay towards a Criticism of all Revelation, 1792) attracted general attention, and procured him the professorship of philosophy in Jena in 1793.
In 1800 he was ono of the most prominent professors of Jena university during its most brilliant period. Here he published, under the name of Wissenschaftalehre (Theory of Science), a philosophical system, which, though founded on Kant's system, gives the latter a highly idealistic development which was strongly repudiated by the Konigsberg philosopher. On account of an article he had written to the Philosophical Journal (on the grounds of our belief in the divine government of the world) he fell under the suspicion of atheistical views. This gave rise to an inquiry, which ended in Johann Fichte losing his chair. He then went to Prussia, where he was appointed in 1805 professor of philosophy at Erlangen.
During the war between Prussia and France he went to Konigsberg, where he delivered lectures for a short time, returned to Berlin after the Peace of Tilsit, and in 1810, on the establishment of the university in that city, was appointed rector and professor of philosophy. Fichte's philosophy, though there are two distinct periods to be distinguished in it, is a consistent idealism, representing all that the individual perceives as distinct from himself, the ego, as a creation of this I or ego. This ego, however, is not the consciousness of the individual so much as the divine or universal consciousness of which the other is but a part. His philosophy thus came to assume a strongly moral and religious character. Amongst his best-known works, besides those already mentioned, are: System der Sittenlehre (Systematic Ethics), Die Bestimmung des Menschen (The Destination of Man), Das Wesen des Gelehrten (The Nature of the Scholar), Grundzuge des Gegenwartigen Zeitalters (Characteristics of the Present Age), Reden an die Deutsche Nation (Addresses to the German Nation). Research Johann Fichte
Johann Fischart was a German satirist. He was born between 1545 and 1550 and died in 1589. His writings are mostly satirical, partly in prose, partly in verse, partly of both mixed together, and have the most whimsical titles. As a satirist he is the most unrestrained of his age, the papal dignity, and the lives of the priesthood and Jesuity, astrological superstition, scholastic pedantry, etc, being among his favourite subjects of attack. His most celebrated works are a rifaccimento of the Gargantua of Rabelais, Das gluckhafft Schiff von Zurich (The Lucky Ship of Zurich), and about fifty others. Research Johann Fischart
Johann Georg Adam Forster was a German traveller. He was born in 1754 and died in 1794. The son of Johaun Reinhold Forster, he accompanied his father to Russia and England, and both accompanied Captain James Cook in his voyage round the world during 1772 to 1775. Subsequently he taught natural history at Cassel, held a professorial chair at Wilna and became librarian to the Elector of Mains. An excellent account of Captain James Cook's second voyage round the world was written by him in connection with his father. He also wrote Essays on Geography, Natural History, Views of the Lower Rhine, etc. Research Johann Forster
Johann Gottlieb Gahn was a Swedish chemist. He was born in 1745 and died in 1818. In his chemical work he was associated with Bergman, Scheele, andBerzelius. He left an account of the blow-pipe and its application. Research Johann Gahn
Johann Rudolf Glauber was a German chemist. He was born in 1603 at Karlstadt and died in 1668. He was a zealous alchemist but his experiments resulted in valuable chemical discoveries. He was the first to produce hydrochloric acid from oil of vitriol and salt. He also discovered sodium sulphate, which is named after him as Glauber's Salt. Research Johann Glauber
Johann Georg Gmelin was a German naturalist. He was born in 1709 at Tubingen and died in 1755. On taking his medical degree he went to St Petersburg, and became professor of chemistry and natural history. In 1733, at the expense of the Empress of Russia, he took part in an exploring expedition to Siberia, returning to St Petersburg in 1743, where he published his Flora of Siberia.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe was a German poet and writer. He was born in 1749 at Frankfort-on-the-Main and died in 1832. His father, who was a Doctor of Laws and imperial councillor, was a well-to-do citizen and an admirer of the fine arts. The Seven Years' War broke out when Johann Goethe was eight years old, and Count de Thorane, lieutenant du roi of the French army in Germany, was quartered in the house of his father. The count, being an amateur and liberal patron of art, encouraged the boy's incipient taste for pictures. At the same time young Johann Goethe learned the French language practically; and a French theatrical company, then performing at Frankfort, awakened his taste for dramatic performances. Drawing, music, natural science, the elements of jurisprudence, and the languages, occupied him alternately.
After the breaking off of a youthful love affair, which gave a name to the heroine of his great work Faust and some features to his Wilhelm Meister, he was sent to the University of Leipzig to prepare himself for the legal profession, but he did not follow any regular course of studies. Johann Goethe began at this period, what he practised throughout his life, to embody in a poem, or in a poetical form, whatever occupied his mind intensely;
and no one, perhaps, was ever more in need of such an exercise, as his nature continually hurried him from one extreme to another.
In 1768 he left Leipzig, and after an illness of some length he went to the University of Strasburg in 1770, to pursue the study of law, according to his father's wishes. At Strasburg he became acquainted with Herder - a decisive circumstance in his life. Herder made him more acquainted with the Italian school of the fine arts, and inspired his mind with views of poetry more congenial to his character than any which he had hitherto conceived. While here he fell in love with Frederica Brion, daughter of the pastor of Sesenheim, but the affair, though it made a more abiding impression on him than some others, resulted in nothing.
Johann Goethe's numerous love affairs form one of the most curious studies in biography. His attachments were all fugitive; the love passion was continuous, but the object was ever changing. In 1771 he took the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence, and wrote a dissertation on a legal subject. He then went to Wetzlar to practise law, where he found, in his own love for a betrothed lady, and in the fate of a young man named Jerusalem, the subjects for his striking work, The Sorrows of Werther, which formed an epoch in German literature. The attention of the public had already been attracted to him, however, by his drama Gotz von Berlichingen (published 1773). Werther appeared in 1774. Not long after the publication of Werther, Charles Augustus, the hereditary duke of Saxe-Weimar, met Johann Goethe on a journey, and when in 1775 he took the government into his own hands, he invited Johann Goethe to his court. Johann Goethe accepted the invitation, and on the 7th of November, 1775, arrived at Weimar. Wieland was already there, having been the duke's tutor: Herder was added to the band in 1776; Schiller was afterwards one of its members for a few years; and other poets and critics and novelists were gathered round these chiefs.
Johann Goethe was the leading spirit of the group even during the last quarter of the 18th century, when these men and others were constructing and guiding the literature of all Germany; and his supremacy became yet more absolute afterwards, when for another generation he stood alone.
In 1776 he was made privy-councillor of legation, with a seat and vote in the privy-council. In 1782 he was made president of the chamber, and ennobled. In 1786 he made a journey to Italy, where he remained two years, visited Sicily, and remained a long time in Rome. This residence in Italy had the effect of still further developing his artistic powers. Here his Iphigenia was matured, Egmont finished, and Tasso projected. The first of these was published in 1787, the second in 1788, and the third in 1790. In the same year with Tasso was published the earliest form of the first part of Faust, with the title Dr. Faust, ein Trauerspiel (Dr. Faust, a Tragedy), a poem in a dramatic form, which belongs rather to Johann Goethe's whole life than to any particular period of it.
At the time that Johann Goethe was engaged in the production of these works of imagination he had been pursuing various other studies of a scientific nature with as ardent an interest as if these had belonged to his peculiar province. The result of his studies in botany was a work published also in 1790, Versuch die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu Erklaren (Attempts to Explain the Metamorphosis of Plants), in which he gives expression to the view that the whole plant; and its different parts, may all be regarded as variously modified leaves. In the following year (1791) he began to apply himself to optics, and in 1791-1792 he published a work on this subject called Beitrage zur Optik.
On the 1st of May, 1791, he became director of the court theatre at Weimar. In 1792 he followed his prince during the campaign of the Prussians against the revolutionary party in France, and was present at the Battle of Valmy on the 20th of September. At the Weimar theatre he brought out some of the dramatic chefs-d'oeuvre of Schiller, and there, too, his own dramatic works first appeared, Goetz von Berlichingen, Faust, Iphigenia in Taurus, Tasso, Clavigo, Stella, and CountEgmont.
In 1794-1796 Johann Goethe published Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship), a novel which has become well known to English readers through the translation of Carlyle, and which had as a continuation Wilhelm Meister's Wanderjahre (that is, his travels as a journeyman; 1821). His next work of importance was Hermann und Dorothea (1797), a narrative poem, in hexameterverse, the characters of which are taken from humble life.
In 1806 Johann Goethe married Christiane Vulpius, with whom he had lived since 1788, and of whom he always spoke with warmth and gratitude for the degree in which she had contributed to his domestic happiness. In 1808 he published another edition of Faust in a considerably altered form. In 1809 was published Wahlverwandtschaften (Elective Affinities), another novel, and in
1810 the Farbenlehre or Theory of Colours, a work in which he had the boldness to oppose the Newtonian theory, and to which Goethe himself attached great importance, although the theory therein promulgated met with no acceptance among scientists. In 1811-1814 appeared Johann Goethe's autobiography, with the titleAus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit; in 1819 the Westostlicher Divan, a remarkable collection of oriental songs and poems. Johann Goethe's last work was the second part of Faust, which was completed on the evening before the last anniversary of his birthday which he lived to see.
Johann Goethe's works taken altogether form a rich constellation of poetry, romance, science, art, and philosophy. His greatest production is his Faust, emphatically a philosophical dramatic poem, and the best of Goethe's productions in a department for which he seems to have been born. Much light is thrown on Goethe's life and character by the published correspondence with his contemporaries, Herder, Frau von Stein, Lavator, Jacobi, Merck, Countess Stolberg, etc; by Eckermann's Conversations, and especially by his own autobiography, which he himself describes as 'poetry and truth,' and in which probably the truth is sometimes clouded by the poetry. Research Johann Goethe
Johann Christoph Gottsched was a German writer. He was born in 1700 and died in 1766. He became professor of eloquence and poetry, and afterwards of logic and metaphysics at Leipzig; and for many years was dictator in Germany in matters of literary taste. In 1728 he published the first sketch of his Rhetoric, and in 1729 his Kritische Dichtkunst (Critical Art of Poetry). Both these works condemn the disfigurement of the language by the use of foreign words, and oppose the taste for bombast in poetry which then prevailed. In 1730 he published his Contributions towards a Critical History of the German Language, Poetry, and Eloquence, and subsequently his Erste Grunde der Weltweisheit (First Principles of Philosophy). By advocating French taste in literature as opposed to English he lost within his lifetime much of the influence he had acquired earlier in his career. Research Johann Gottsched
Johann Jacob Griesbach was a German biblical critic. He was born in 1745 and died in 1812. He studied at Frankfort, Tubingen, Leipzig, and Halle. In the latter university he appeared as a lecturer in 1771, and after being appointed professor of theology at Jena, he published his famous edition of the New Testament, in which are indicated the various readings and their respective degrees of probability. Research Johann Griesbach
Johann Georg Hamman was a German writer. He was born in 1730 and died in 1788. He studied a variety of subjects, tried various occupations, and published many works more or less humorous, more or less serious, but failed to attract general favour, partly on account of the obscurities of his style, though he had an influence on Herder, Goethe, etc. Research Johann Hamann
Johann Gottlieb Heineccius was a German writer on logic, jurisprudence, and ethics. He was
born in 1681 and died in 1741. His works on Roman law were highly valued. Research Johann Heineccius
Johann Baptist Van Helmont was a Belgian chemist. He was born in 1577 at Brussels and died in 1644. At the age of seventeen he gave public lectures on surgery at Louvain. After teaching medicine at Louvain, perceiving the defects of the system of Galen, he announced his intention of reforming' medicine, but finally renounced its practice, and travelled for ten years. He turned his attention to chemistry, settling at Vilvode, near Brussels in 1609, where for thirty years he practised medicine gratuitously. The emperors Rodolph II, Matthias, and Ferdinand II, invited him to Vienna, but he preferred the independence of his laboratory. Although his philosophical conceptions were of a metaphysical and empirical nature, he added greatly to the development of chemistry by employing with great advantage experimental methods. He is accredited with the discovery of sulphuric acid and the first use of the term 'gas' and also the scientific use of the thermometer. His interest in medicine led him to study the fluids of the human body. Research Johann Helmont
Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German author. He was bom in 1744 and died in 1803. In 1762 he went to Konigsberg, procured an. appointment in Frederick's College, and was permitted by Kant to hear all his lectures gratis. From 1764 to 1769 he was an assistant teacher at the cathedral school of Riga, with which office that of a preacher was connected, and it was during this period that he published his Fragments on German Literature. In 1769 he resigned his post in order to travel, and became travelling tutor to the Prince of Holstein-Oldenburg. But in Strasburg he was prevented from proceeding by a disease of the eyes; and here he became acquainted with Goethe, on whom he had a very decided influence.
Besides his Fragments, his Critical Woods (Kritische Walder) and other productions had gained him a considerable reputation, and he was appointed in 1771 court preacher, superintendent, and consistorial counsellor at Buckeburg, and in 1776 to the same offices at Weimar. In 1801 he was made president of the high consistory, a place before only given to noblemen. He was subsequently made a noble by the Elector of Bavaria.
As a theologian Herder contributed to a better understanding of the historical and antiquarian part of the Old Testament. His Geist der Hebraischen Poesie (Spirit of Hebrew Poetry) is highly valued. He did much also for the better appreciation of the classical authors. His greatest work is his Ideen zur Philosophic der Geschichte der Menschheit (Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Man
1785). He was the author of some popular songs, and of an epic entitled The Cid. Research Johann Herder
Johann Gottfried Jakob Hermann was a German scholar. He was born in 1772 and died in 1848. He began to lecture on ancient literature at Leipzig in 1794, and with this university he was connected until his death in 1848. Johann Hermann originated valuable reforms in the method of Greek grammatical instruction; and he is especially known for his editions of AEschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes, Bion, and Moschus, and for the controversies in which his theories involved him with Voss, Creuzer, Bockh, Ottfried Muller, and other scholars. Research Johann Hermann
Johann Jakob Herzog was a German Protestant theologian. He was born in 1805 at Baseland died in 1882. He was successively professor of historical theology at Lausanne, churchhistory at Halle, and latterly at Eriangen. His chief works are Calvin and Zwingli, Life of OEcolampadius and the Reformation in Basel, and his great Real-Encyklopadie fur Protestantische Theologie und Kirche, a vast collection of German learning and speculation, of which he was the editor, and to which he contributed over 500 articles. Research Johann Herzog
Johann Kepler was a German astronomer. He was born in 1571 at Weil and died in 1630 after contracting a fever. At the age of seventeen he was admitted to the University of Tubingen and in 1594 was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at Graz. In 1600 he went to Prague as an assistant to Tycho Brahe whom he succeeded the following year. During the next 25 years Johann Kepler was astronomer and mathematician to Upper Austria, at Ulm and to Wallenstein. Research Johann Kepler
Johann Martin Lappenberg was a German historian. He was born in 1794 at Hamburg an died in 1865. He became minister to the court of Berlin in 1820 and in 1823 keeper of the archives of the senate of Hamburg, representing Hamburg at the Diet of Frankfurt. He wrote a number of important historical works. Research Johann Lappenberg
Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe was a German composer. He was born in 1796 at Lobejun and died in 1869. He studied at Halle and in 1821 settled at Stettin. He was a prolific composer, producing operas, oratorios, symphonies, concertos, duets and other pieces for the piano and ballads. Research Johann Loewe
Johann Balthasar Neumann was a German rococo architect. He was born in 1687 and died in 1753. His masterpiece is the church of Vierzehnheiligen in Bavaria. Research Johann Neumann
Johann Friedrich Overbeck was a German painter. He was born in 1789 at Lubeck and died in 1869. After four years' study at Vienna he went to Rome, where with Von Schadow, Cornelius Veit and Schnorr, he developed the method which, with its devotional expression and banishment of mere physical beauty as such, procured for them the name of 'Nazarenes'. Research Johann Overbeck
Johann Reinhold Forster was a German writer. He was born in 1729 and died in 1798. He studied theology at Halle, and became a preacher at Nassenhuben. He chiefly devoted himself, however, to his favourite. Studies - mathematics, history, geography, etc. After having been engaged on a mission by the Russian government in 1766 he migrated to London, where he supported himself, and his son Johann Forster partly by teaching. He was finally invited to accompany Captain James Cook in his second voyage as naturalist of the expedition. An account of the voyage was published in his son's name in London in 1777. In 1780 he was invited to Halle as professor of natural history, and continued there until his death in 1798. Research Johann Reinhold Forster
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German dramatist and poet. He was born in 1759 in Wurtemberg and died in 1805. Wanting to study for the church, he was forced to enter military school, being the son of an officer. Two years later he deserted the military for medicine, hating the discipline of the military academy. None-the-less, he was appointed an army surgeon, and wrote his play 'Die Rauber' in his spare time, publishing it in 1781. The play got him into trouble with the court of Wurtemberg, and he deserted the army and fled to Baden where he was appointed poet to the theatre at Mannheim. The rest of his life was spent writing plays and poems, often in great poverty, and travelling around Germany at the hospitality of friends and admirers. Research Johann Schiller
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer. He was born in 1685 at Eisenach and died in 1750. Being the son of a musician he was early trained in the art, and soon distinguished himself. In 1703 he was engaged as a player at the court of Weimar, and subsequently he was musical director to the Duke of Anhalt-Kothen, and latterly held an appointment at Leipzig. He paid a visit to Potsdam on the invitation of Frederick the Great. As a player on the harpsichord and organ he had no equal among his contemporaries; but it was not until a century after his death that his greatness as a composer was fully recognized. His compositions breathe an original inspiration, and are largely of the religious kind. They include pieces, vocal and instrumental, for the organ, piano, stringed and keyed instruments; church cantatas, oratorios, masses, passion music, etc. More than fifty musical performers have proceeded from this family. Sebastian himself had eleven sons, all distinguished as musicians. Among his compositions are St Matthew Passion and The Well-Tempered Clavier. Research Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Strauss was an Austrian composer. He was born in 1804 and died in 1849. He was popular for his waltz music, but didn't achieve the fame that his son, also called Johann Strauss, did. Research Johann Strauss I
Johann Strauss was an Austrian composer. He was born in 1825 at Vienna and died in 1899. He was a son of Johann Strauss, the composer of waltzes, and after adopting music as a career in 1844 succeeding his father as conductor of his orchestra and from 1863 devoting himself to composition, composing successful waltzes including 'The Blue Danube' which was first performed in 1867, he also composed light operas including the 1971 'Indigo' and 1874 'Die Fledermaus'. Research Johann Strauss II
Count Johann Friedrich Struensee was a German doctor and politician. He was born in 1737 at Halle, Saxony and died in 1772. The son of a clergyman he practised medicine for some time at Altona and in 1768 became private physician to Christian VII of Denmark, with whom he established himself as a favourite. In 1771 he became minister of state in Denmark and virtual dictator, even though he didn't speak the language. His revolutionary policy reforms which included the encouragement of education and the freeing of the press roused the nobles and clergy who arrested him in January 1772 and tried him for intrigue with the young queen of England - Caroline Matilda - and for conspiracy against the throne, found him guilty and had him executed. Research Johann Struensee
Johann Sverdrup was a Norwegianstatesman. He was born in 1816 at Jarlsberg and died in 1892. He studied law and in 1850 was elected a member of the Storting. He became leader of the left or radical party and fought strenuously against the royal prerogative and for the dissolution of the union with Sweden. In 1883 after long struggles, his party came into power, but four years later the party split and in 1889 he resigned. Research Johann Sverdrup
Johann Tauler was a German mystic. He was born in 1300 at Strasbourg and died in 1361. He became a Dominican friar when he was eighteen and achieved fame as a preacher. Research Johann Tauler
Johann Tetzel was a German friar. He was born in 1460 at Leipzig and died in 1519. The son of a merchant he was educated at Leipzig and became a Dominican. In 1517 he was employed by the elector of Mainz as a seller of indulgences, half the proceeds being remitted to the pope as a contribution towards the costs of building St Peter's. Research Johann Tetzel
Johann Ludwig Tieck was a German critic, poet and novelist. He was born in 1773 at Berlin and died in 1853. He studied at Halte, Gottingen and Erlangen. In 1799 he joined the literary circle at Jena, where he became one of the leaders of the German Romantic movement. He visited Italy in 1805, and England and France in 1817, and in 1825 was appointed director of the court theatre at Dresden. In 1841 he moved to Berlin where he remained the rest of his life. Among his works were 'Peter Lebrechts Volksmahrchen' (Fairy Tales of Peter Lebrecht) published in 1797, later revised and republished as 'Phantasus' between 1812 and 1817. Research Johann Tieck
Johann Ludwig Uhland was a German poet and balladwriter. He was born in 1787 at Tubingen and died 1862. Educated in law at the university of Tubingen before spending some time in Paris. In 1812 he received a legal appointment at Stuttgart, but resigned a few years later, publishing his first poems in 1815. Research Johann Uhland
Johann Friedrich Von Cotta, Baron von Cotta was an eminent German bookseller. He was born in 1764 and died in 1832. He began business at Tubingen, but in 1811 removed to Stuttgart. He was the publisher for many great writers in Germany, including Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Richter, Uhland, Eichte, Hegel, the Humboldts, and others. Research Johann Von Cotta
Johann Mayr Von Eck was a German theologian. He was born in 1486 and died in 1543. Having obtained a reputation for learning and skill in disputation he was made Doctor of Theology, canon in Eichstadt, and pro-chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt. He went to Rome in 1520 and returned with a papal bull against Luther, in attempting to publish which he met with violent popular opposition. In 1530, while at the diet of Augsburg, he made the remarkable admission that he could confute the Augsburg Confession by the fathers but not by the Scriptures. Johann Von Eck was present also at the diets of Worms (1540) and Ratisbon (1541). Research Johann Von Eck
Johann Zoffany was a German portrait painter. He was born in 1733 at Frankfurt and died in 1810. He studied in Rome and then went to England. He began by painting theatrical scenes, but soon became successful as a painter of portraits and crowded conversation pieces, such as The Academicians of the Royal Academy painted in 1772, which shows portraits of himself, Joshua Reynolds, and Francis Hayman; and The Tribuna of the Uffizi painted in 1780 , showing the old master paintings and antiques which were used for study at the Royal Academy, and groups of connoisseurs and students. He also painted pictures of stage performances. From 1783 to 1789 he worked in India. Research Johann Zoffany
Johannes Bessarion was a titular patriarch of Constantinople and Greek scholar. He was born in 1389 or 1395 at Trebizond and died in 1472. He was made archbishop of Nicaea by John Palaeologus, whose efforts to unite the Greek and Roman churches he seconded in such a way as to lose the esteem of his countrymen and gain that of PopeEugenius IV, who made him cardinal. He held various important posts, and was twice nearly elected pope. The revival of letters in the fifteenth century owed not a little to his influence. He left translations of Aristotle and vindications of Plato, with valuable collections of books and manuscripts. Research Johannes Bessarion
Johannes Brahms was a German composer. He was born in 1833 at Hamburg and died in 1897. The son of a musician, he made a position for himself as composer and pianist at an early age, and his musical compositions received the approval of Liszt and Schumann. The greater part of his life was spent at Vienna, and was entirely devoted to composition. His works are very numerous, and belong to several different classes, but include no operas, though two overtures are among them. They comprise three hundred solo songs, a number of sacred and secular choral works, concerted vocal works, orchestral works, chamber music, pianoforte solos, Hungarian dances arranged as duets for the piano, etc. Brahms ranks among musicians as a classicist, and is now admitted to be one of the great musicians of Germany. Research Johannes Brahms
Johannes Dumichen was a German Egyptologist. He was born in 1833 near Glogau and died in 1894. He studied Egyptology under Lepsius and was deputed by the Prussian government to explore the NileValley in 1862 and 1868. He also accompanied the Prussian Crown Prince to Egypt on the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal. In 1872 he was appointed professor of Egyptology at Strasbourg. Research Johannes Dumichen
Johannes Friedrich August Esmarch was a German surgeon. He was born in 1828 and died after 1905. He held high official positions during the Schleswig-Holstein and Franco-German wars and earned a reputation as a great authority on gun-shot wounds. He originated valuable improvements in barrack-hospitals, ambulances, etc. and was the author of several surgical works. Research Johannes Esmarch
Johannes Ewald was a Danish poet. He was born in 1743 at Copenhagen and died in 1781. After studying theology at Copenhagen University he ran away and joined the Prussian army during the Seven Years' War, and soon deserted for the Austrian army and after his return home in 1760 wrote an elegy on the death of Frederick V of Denmark which was received with general admiration, and awoke in himself the consciousness of poetic talent. His reputation rapidly increased with the publication of his tragedies, The Death of Balder, Adam and Eve, Rolfkrage, etc; and his odes and songs, notable amongst which are: King Christian, Liden Gunver, Rungsted's Lyksalighed. Research Johannes Ewald
Johannes Carsten Hauch was a Danish poet. He was born in 1790 at Frederikshald, Norway and died in 1872. He became professor of Scandinavian literature at Kiel in 1846 and professor of aesthetics at Copenhagen in 1851. Most of his tragedies are distinguished by vigorous characterisation and vivid historical colour. Research Johannes Hauch
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer. He was born in 1571 near Stuttgart and died in 1630. He studied the motion of planets and proved that planets move in an elliptical path with the sun at one focus, thereby laying the foundations of modern astronomy. Research Johannes Kepler
Abbreviations
People
Research Joachim Campe
