Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder - Wikipedia Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (31 January 1741 – 23 April 1796) was a German satirical and humorous writer. Hippel was born at Gerdauen in the Kingdom of Prussia, where his father was rector of a school. He enjoyed an excellent education at home, and in his sixteenth year he entered the University of Königsberg as a student of theology. Among his instructors was the philosopher Immanuel Kant, and the two became close friends.[1] Interrupting his studies, he went, on the invitation of a friend, to St Petersburg, where he was introduced at the court of the empress Catherine II. Returning to Königsberg he became a tutor in a private family; but, falling in love with a young lady of high position, his ambition was aroused, and giving up his tutorship he devoted himself with enthusiasm to legal studies. He was successful in his profession, and in 1780 was appointed chief burgomaster in Königsberg, and in 1786 privy councillor of war and president of the town. As he rose in the world, however, his inclination for matrimony vanished, and the lady who had stimulated his ambition was forgotten. He died at Königsberg on 23 April 1796, leaving a considerable fortune.[2] Hippel had extraordinary talents, rich in wit and fancy, but his was a character full of contrasts and contradictions. Cautiousness and ardent passion, dry pedantry and piety, morality and sensuality; simplicity and ostentation composed his nature and, hence, his literary productions never attained artistic finish. In his Lebenslaufe nach aufsteigender Linie (1778–81) he intended to describe the lives of his father and grandfather, but he eventually confined himself to his own. It is an autobiography, in which persons well known to him are introduced, together with a mass of heterogeneous reflections on life and philosophy. Kreuz- and Querzüge des Ritters A bis Z (1793–94) is a satire levelled against the follies of the age: ancestral pride and the thirst for orders, decoration and the like.[2] Among others of his better known works were Über die Ehe (1774) and Über die bürgerliche Verbesserung der Weiber (1792).[2] In the latter essay, Hippel argued that the natural traits of women make them superior for many tasks, especially education. According to Jane Kneller, Hippel's "central claim" in this essay is that "excluding women from the public square is a travesty of justice that prevents the advancement of humanity toward genuine civilization."[2] Timothy F. Sellner has produced an English translation of this work under the title On Improving the Status of Women.[3] Hippel was once called the fore-runner of Jean Paul, and had some resemblance to this author, in his constant digressions and in the interweaving of scientific matter in his narrative. Like Richter he was strongly influenced by Laurence Sterne.[2] He never married. In 1827–38 a collected edition of Hippel's works in 14 volumes was issued at Berlin. Über die Ehe was edited by Emil Brenning (Leipzig, 1872) and Gustav Moldenhauer (Leipzig, n.d. [c. 1905]), and the Lebenslaufe nach aufsteigender Linie, in a modernized edition by Alexander von Oettingen (1878), went through several editions. See J Czerny, Sterne, Hippel and Jean Paul (Berlin, 1904).[2] References[edit] ^ Jane Kneller (2006), "Kant on Sex and Marriage" in Paul Guyer, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Kant and Early Modern Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 451. doi:10.1017/CCOL052182303X.014. ISBN 9781139001144. ^ a b c d e f  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hippel, Theodor Gottlieb von". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 517. ^ Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel (1979) On Improving the Status of Women, tr. Timothy F. Sellner. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Further reading[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder. Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel: On Marriage. Ed. and trans. by Timothy F. Sellner (Detroit: Wayne State Univ. Pr., 1994). Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel: The Status of Women. Collected Writings. Ed. and trans. by Timothy F. Sellner (Xlibris, 2009); this supersedes his earlier version of On Improving the Status of Women. Authority control BIBSYS: 90394973 BNF: cb124559136 (data) GND: 11855137X ISNI: 0000 0001 2130 436X LCCN: n82120701 LNB: 000046317 NKC: xx0036096 NLA: 35843027 NLI: 000063492 NTA: 069676011 PLWABN: 9810537787805606 RERO: 02-A003373616 SUDOC: 033720401 Trove: 1112007 VcBA: 495/315026 VIAF: 44395000 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n82120701 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theodor_Gottlieb_von_Hippel_the_Elder&oldid=991530381" Categories: 1741 births 1796 deaths Age of Enlightenment People from East Prussia German male writers Hidden categories: Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Use dmy dates from June 2014 Commons category link is on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with RERO identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Deutsch Français Italiano مصرى Polski Português Русский Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 30 November 2020, at 15:20 (UTC). 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