Portal:Literature/Biography archive/2007, Week 6

Johann Christoph Gottsched (February 2, 1700 – December 12, 1766), was a German author and critic. He was born at Judithenkirch near Königsberg, the son of a Lutheran clergyman. He studied philosophy and history at the University of Königsberg, but immediately on taking the degree of Magister in 1723, he fled to Leipzig in order to avoid being drafted into the Prussian military service. In Leipzig he enjoyed the protection of JB Mencke, who, under the name of "Philander von der Linde," was a well-known poet and president of the Deutschübende poetische Gesellschaft in Leipzig. Of this society Gottsched was elected "Senior" in 1726, and in the next year reorganized it under the title of the Deutsche Gesellschaft. In 1730 he was appointed extraordinary professor of poetry, and, in 1734, ordinary professor of logic and metaphysics in the university. He died at Leipzig.