Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) was a poet, critic and philosopher, one of the defining figures of the German Enlightenment. Born in Kamenz in Saxony as the son of a pastor, he studied theology and medicine in Leipzig, broke off his studies and lived as a freelance writer and journalist in Berlin. With Friedrich Nicolai and Moses Mendelssohn he published the Briefe, die neueste Litteratur betreffend. From 1760 to 1765 he was secretary to a Prussian general in Breslau, where he began work on Laokoon (1766). He later worked as dramaturge at the Hamburg National Theatre and, from 1770, as librarian in Wolfenbüttel. His best-known works include Minna von Barnhelm, Emilia Galotti, the Hamburgische Dramaturgie and Nathan der Weise. Lessing died in Braunschweig in 1781.
More about Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: Wikipedia · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek · Wikidata
Topics: Philosophy · Art