Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel was born in Gerdauen, East Prussia, on Tuesday, 13 January 1741, making him a generation younger than Immanuel Kant and a contemporary of Johann Georg Hamann, Johann Gottfried Herder, and Johann George Scheffner, the man who would become his closest friend. Even as a child, Hippel was by nature more inclined to the practical Romans than the philosophical Greeks, though he did have an active imagination, engaging in conversations with God and the spirit world and reenacting the battles of Alexander the Great. His parents, and particularly his mother, saw to it that he grew up in a pietistic household. His father, a teacher at the small local school who also performed some church duties, drilled his memory and language ability by having him take down the Sunday…
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Citation: Beck, Hamilton H.H.. "Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 July 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14762, accessed 28 April 2024.]
