Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Quotes

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born in Kamenz, Upper Lusatia, Saxony, Germany. He was a German philosopher, playwright, publicist, and art critic. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature. He is widely considered by theatre historians to be the first dramaturg in his role at Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre. He earned a degree in theology, medicine, philosophy, and philology. In 1752 he took his master's degree in Wittenberg. He wrote several plays include: The Young Scholar, Miss Sara Sampson, Laocoön, Minna of Barnhelm, Hamburg Dramaturgy, Emilia Galotti, and Nathan the Wise. Lessing is important as a literary critic for his work Laocoon: An Essay on the Limits of Painting and Poetry.