Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic. He was a representative of the Enlightenment. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the de
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, by Anton Graff 1771
Wife Eva Lessing
House, Wolfenbüttel
Grave, Brunswick
Nathan the Wise
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Nathan the Wise is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the D
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
…pamphlets on his beliefs which were eventually banned. It was this banishment that inspired him to return to theatre to portray his views and to write Nathan the Wise. Early in his life, Lessing showed interest in the theatre. In his theoretical and critical writings on the subject—as in his own plays—he tried to…
Recha Welcoming Her Father, 1877 illustration by Maurycy Gottlieb
Second edition in its first year of publication, 1779, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland