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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

German writer, philosopher, publicist, and art critic (1729-1781)
Person human Q34628
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Anton Graff · Public Domain · Wikimedia
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Summary

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born on January 22, 1729[1], in Kamenz[2]. He died on February 15, 1781[3], in Brunswick[4]. He worked as a lyricist[5], philosopher[6], playwright[7], poet[8], and librarian[9]. He ranks in the top 0.71% of human entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (7,852 views/month, #7,063 of 1,000,298).[10]

Key Facts

  • Date of birth: 1729[11]
  • Date of death: 1781[12]
  • Place of burial: Brunswick[13]
  • Father: Johann Gottfried Lessing[14]
  • Mother: Justina Salome Lessing[15]
  • Spouse: Eva König[16]
  • Country of citizenship: Electorate of Saxony[17]
  • Native language: German[18]
  • Ethnic group: Germans[19]
  • Occupation: theologian[20], dramaturge[21], literary critic[22], journalist[23], writer[24], critic[25], art historian[26]
  • Field of work: performing arts[27]
  • Educated at: Leipzig University[28], Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg[29]
  • Notable work: Miss Sara Sampson[30], Nathan the Wise[31], Emilia Galotti[32], Laokoon (Lessing)[33]
  • Member of: Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences[34]
  • Religion or worldview: Christianity[35]
  • Sex or gender: male[36]
  • Genre: drama fiction[37]
  • Commons category: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing[38]
  • Archives at: Herzog August Library[39]
  • Family name: Lessing[40]
  • Given name: Gotthold[41], Ephraim[42]
  • Topic's main category: Category:Gotthold Ephraim Lessing[43]
  • Commons gallery: Gotthold Ephraim Lessing[44]
  • Work location: Hamburg[45], Leipzig[46], Lutherstadt Wittenberg[47], Wolfenbüttel[48]

Why It Matters

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing has Wikipedia articles in 27 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[49] He is known by 59 alternative names across languages and contexts.[50]

He has been cited as an influence by Søren Kierkegaard[51], a philosopher[52], 1813–1855[53], of Kingdom of Denmark[54], specialised in philosophy[55] and Heinrich Heine[56], a poet[57], 1797–1856[58], of Kingdom of Prussia[59], specialised in creative and professional writing[60].

He is credited with the discovery of dramaturge[61], a theatrical occupation[62]. Works attributed to him include Nathan the Wise[63], a literary work[64], founded in 1779[65]; Emilia Galotti[66], a literary work[67], founded in 1757[68]; Minna von Barnhelm[69], a literary work[70], founded in 1764[71]; Miss Sara Sampson[72], a literary work[73]; Hamburgische Dramaturgie[74], a literary work[75]; and Laokoon (Lessing)[76].

FAQs

Where was Gotthold Ephraim Lessing born?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born in Kamenz[2].

Where did Gotthold Ephraim Lessing die?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing passed away in Brunswick[4].

Who were Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's parents?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's father was Johann Gottfried Lessing[14]. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's mother was Justina Salome Lessing[15].

Who was Gotthold Ephraim Lessing married to?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's spouses include Eva König[16].

What did Gotthold Ephraim Lessing do for work?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing worked as a lyricist[5], philosopher[6], playwright[7], poet[8], and librarian[9].

Where did Gotthold Ephraim Lessing go to school?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was educated at Leipzig University[28] and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg[29].

Who did Gotthold Ephraim Lessing influence?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing has been cited as an influence by Søren Kierkegaard[51] and Heinrich Heine[56].

What did Gotthold Ephraim Lessing discover?

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing is credited as discoverer of dramaturge[61].

Related Entities

Heinrich Heine Leipzig Søren Kierkegaard

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  3. [36] ↑ . BnF authorities. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  4. [14] ↑ . Biographisches Lexikon der Münzmeister und Wardeine, Stempelschneider und Medailleure. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  5. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [28] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [29] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [27] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  11. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  12. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  13. [6] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . tandfonline.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  14. [7] ↑ . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  15. [8] ↑ . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  16. [9] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  17. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  18. [21] ↑ . journals.cambridge.org. journals.cambridge.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  19. [22] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  20. [23] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  21. [24] ↑ . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  22. [25] ↑ . The Fine Art Archive. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  23. [26] ↑ . Dictionary of Art Historians. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  24. [13] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  25. [37] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  26. [35] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  27. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  28. [38] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  29. [34] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  30. [39] ↑ . kalliope-verbund.info. kalliope-verbund.info. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  31. [1] ↑ . Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  32. [11] ↑ . Biographisches Lexikon der Münzmeister und Wardeine, Stempelschneider und Medailleure. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  33. [3] ↑ . Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  34. [12] ↑ . Biographisches Lexikon der Münzmeister und Wardeine, Stempelschneider und Medailleure. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  35. [40] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  36. [41] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  37. [42] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  38. [30] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  39. [31] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  40. [32] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  41. [33] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  42. [43] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  43. [44] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  44. [45] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  45. [46] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  46. [47] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  47. [48] ↑ . Integrated Authority File. Retrieved . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [51] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [56] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [61] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [63] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [66] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [69] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [72] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [74] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site
  9. [76] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [52] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  2. [53] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  3. [54] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  4. [55] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  5. [57] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  6. [58] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  7. [59] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  8. [60] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  9. [62] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  10. [64] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  11. [65] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  12. [67] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  13. [68] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  14. [70] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  15. [71] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  16. [73] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site
  17. [75] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [10] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [49] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [50] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

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Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/gotthold-ephraim-lessing
MLA “Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 15 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/gotthold-ephraim-lessing.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_gotthold-ephraim-lessing_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{Gotthold Ephraim Lessing}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/gotthold-ephraim-lessing}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-15}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): Gotthold Ephraim Lessing — https://4ort.xyz/entity/gotthold-ephraim-lessing (retrieved 2026-10-15)

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 1d ago · Epìdosis · 2026-10-15 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14974 → 45824
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14974: 45824, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/290941|batch #290941]]"
  2. 1d ago · Printstream · 2026-10-14 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Wikipedia languages → ['als', 'ar', 'arz', 'ast', 'az', 'azb', 'be', 'bg', 'bn', 'bs', 'ca', 'commons'
    Sitelink count → 107
    P14966 → 7508482
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/59775|batch #59775]]: Import P14966"
  3. 20d ago · StorchPDF · 2026-09-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Port person id → 136823
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Port person id: 136823, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/275236|batch #275236]]"
  4. 23d ago · Printstream · 2026-09-23 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sächsische biografie (gnd) id → 2661
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/55956|batch #55956]]: migrate GND to own IDs"
  5. 27d ago · Ontogon · 2026-09-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Iași central university library id → 000630871
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Iași central university library id: 000630871"
  6. 4w ago · Printstream · 2026-09-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Sächsische biografie (gnd) id → 2661
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Sächsische biografie (gnd) id: 118572121, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1789158480789"
  7. 8w ago · Mahirtwofivesix · 2026-08-19 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Babelnet id → 00041171n
    P14750 → 7AAE-B98E-FF5A-BEEA-CE03
    Arabic ontology lexical concept id → 151060473
    "/* wbeditentity-statements-multiple-properties-update:0||4 */ added/modified IDs mapped to WordNet 3.1"
  8. 11w ago · Pierrotrgr · 2026-07-24 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Biblissima authority id → Akurey
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Biblissima authority id: Q423817, Import ID Biblissima V3 ([[:toollabs:editgroups/b/OR/a6710164cdc|details]])"
  9. 13w ago · Clemens Dulcis · 2026-07-16 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Related category → Category:Works by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Category:Things named after Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:2||1 */ Related category: Category:Things named after Gotthold Ephraim Lessing"
  10. 13w ago · MatSuBot bot · 2026-07-13 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14611 → 8844, 119813
    "/* wbeditentity-update-languages-short:0||new, nl */ import labels from sitelinks; cleanup"
  11. 13w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14611 → 8844, 119813
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14611: 8844, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/260256|batch #260256]]"
  12. 14w ago · Nyuhn · 2026-07-10 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14541 → cQMX3
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/40849|batch #40849]]: ZGBK ID"
  13. 14w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-04 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14608 → 118572121
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14608: 118572121, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1783130387391"
  14. 14w ago · Susmuffin · 2026-07-03 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Harper's tag → gotthold-ephraim-lessing
    "/* wbsetclaim-create:1||1 */ Harper's tag: gotthold-ephraim-lessing, Matched to [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/entry/289934095|gotthold ephraim lessing (#289934095)]] in [[:toollabs:mix-n-match/#/ca"
  15. 15w ago · Printstream · 2026-07-01 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14585 → 39121
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14585: 39121, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782930557898"
  16. 16w ago · Printstream · 2026-06-26 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14536 → 339935
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14536: 339935, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1782462304762"
  17. 18w ago · Jindřich Rubeš · 2026-06-11 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Svkkl authority id → p0028670-Lessing-Gotthold-Ephraim-17291781
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Svkkl authority id: p0028670-Lessing-Gotthold-Ephraim-17291781, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/259495|batch #259495]]"
  18. 21w ago · Quesotiotyo · 2026-05-20 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14397 → 6160
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14397: 6160, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/258229|batch #258229]]"
  19. 22w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-05-12 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Local thumb → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/30848|batch #30848]]: match CERL IDs on the basis of GND (5)"
  20. 23w ago · Printstream · 2026-05-08 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    P14396 → register/person/arw-118572121
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14396: register/person/arw-118572121, #quickstatements; #temporary_batch_1778148440554"
  21. 23w ago · Bargioni · 2026-05-07 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Local thumb → —
    "/* wbeditentity-update:0| */ QuickStatements 3.0 [[:toollabs:qs-dev/batch/30468|batch #30468]]: add P1810 to P5739 2/3"
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