Lessing is a German surname of Slavic origin, originally ''Lesnik'' meaning "woodman". Lessing may refer to: A German family of writers, artists, musicians and politicians who can be traced back to a Michil Lessigk mentioned in 1518 as being a linen weaver in Jahnsdorf near Chemnitz. The family includes: * (1693–1770) pastor primarus in

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gott ...

, well respected, published theologian, translator and father of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) and Karl Gotthelf Lessing (1740–1812). Johann Gottfried's father Theophilus Lessing (1647–1735) was mayor of Kamenz and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's (the composer and pianist 1810–1856) four-times great uncle, Johanne Sophie Susanna Lessing (1745–1818 daughter of Carl Heinrich Lessing 1713, a trumpeter) his grandmother. *

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the develop ...

(1729–1781), one of the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment era, recognised as the world's first dramaturg, Germany's first dramatist and comedy playwright, champion for religious tolerance, friend of

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the '' Haskalah'', or ...

, critic for the ''

Vossische Zeitung The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally-known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...

'', translator and Shakespearean scholar. Today his own works appear as prototypes of the later developed bourgeois German drama. Scholars generally see ''

Miss Sara Sampson ''Miss Sara Sampson'' (original spelling ''Miß Sara Sampson''" Miß" on the titlepage of the 1772 "Tragedies of G. E. Lessing" and "MISS" in all caps Dramatis personæ, though the spelling "Miss" now has wide currency in German) is a play by th ...

'' and ''

Emilia Galotti ''Emilia Galotti'' () is a play in five acts by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), which premiered on 8 March 1772 in Brunswick ("Braunschweig" in German). The work is a classic example of German '' bürgerliches Trauerspiel'' (bourgeois ...

'' as the first bourgeois tragedies, '' Minna von Barnhelm'' as the model for many classic German comedies, ''

Nathan the Wise ''Nathan the Wise'' (original German title: ', ) 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 Döbbelinsch ...

'' as the first German drama of ideas ("Ideendrama") and his theoretical writings ''Laokoon'' and ''

Hamburg Dramaturgy The ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' (german: Hamburgische Dramaturgie) is a highly influential work on drama by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, written between 1767 and 1769 when he worked as a dramaturg for Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre. It was not ...

'' set the standards for the discussion of aesthetic and literary theoretical principles. * Karl Gotthelf Lessing (1740–1812), Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's (1729–1781) younger brother and his first biographer, comedy playwright, translator, mint director and owner through marriage to Marie Friederike Voß, the daughter of of the ''Vossische Zeitung''. * Carl Friedrich Lessing (1778–1848), son of Karl Gotthelf Lessing (1740–1812),Review
of ''Die Lehre vom Menschen'' by Carl Friedrich Lessing, in ''Berliner Literarische Zeitung'', volume 2, no. 4, 21 January 1835, column 58 published philosopher, chancellor under Prince Biron von Curland in Polnisch Wartenberg. * Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), German painter, son of Carl Friedrich Lessing (1778–1848) and great nephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), married to Ida Heuser niece of painter Henriette Jügel and whose niece Malwine Schroedter (1847–1901) married painter and then director of the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

Anton von Werner Anton Alexander von Werner (9 May 18434 January 1915) was a German painter known for his history paintings of notable political and military events in the Kingdom of Prussia.Fulbrook, Mary and John Breuilly (1997) ''German History Since 1800'' ...

. *

Christian Friedrich Lessing Christian Friedrich Lessing (10 August 1809 – 13 March 1862) was a German botanist who was a native of Groß Wartenberg, Niederschlesien. He was a brother to painter Carl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), and a grandnephew of poet Gotthold Ephr ...

(1809–1862, died and buried in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia), physician, botanist, writer, son of Carl Friedrich Lessing (1778–1848) and great nephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) * Carl Louis Gotthold Ludwig Lessing (1817–1897), modelmaker/designer, wine grower and lecturer, son of Carl Friedrich Lessing (1778–1848) and great nephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) married to Marie von Ammon (1833–1928), granddaughter of , a lawyer in Brussels and later president of the region of Trier, also sister of Clara von Ammon who married , a diplomat between the States and Germany and son of controversial politician (1793–1862) who had been imprisoned for left wing ideas. * Franziska Fanny Maria Lessing (1818–1901), daughter of Carl Friedrich Lessing and great niece of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), married to German painter (1807–1884). * (1827–1895), publicist, owner of the ''Vossische Zeitung'' and Schloss Meseberg, son of Carl Friedrich Lessing (1778–1848) and great nephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781). * (1861–1919), son of Carl Robert Lessing (1827–1895), landowner and liberal politician. *

Otto Lessing (sculptor) Otto Lessing (24 February 1846 – 22 November 1912) was a prominent German Historicist sculptor whose work largely shaped the appearance of Berlin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the son of history and landscape painte ...

(1846–1912), German sculptor, photographer and writer, gifted pianist, son of Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), married to Sigrid Gude, daughter of Norwegian painter

Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...

. * Bertha Lessing (1844–1914) daughter of Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880), married to royal court actor and dramatist Karl Koberstein; their son Hans Koberstein became a painter. * (1852–1916) landscape painter, son of Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880). * (1856–1930), painter, son of Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880). *

Kolja Lessing Kolja Lessing (born 15 October 1961) is a German violinist, pianist, composer and academic teacher. His focus as a soloist and chamber musician has been the neglected repertoire by composers who were ostracised under the Nazi regime. His recordin ...

(born 1961), five times great nephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German pianist, violinist, composer and music professor at the Stuttgart Musik Hochschule. Lessing is also the surname of: *

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing (; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she remain ...

(1919–2013), British novelist and the 2007 Nobel Prize laureate in literature. once married to Gottfried Lessing *

Gottfried Lessing Gottfried Anton Nicolai Lessing (14 December 1914 – 11 April 1979) was a German lawyer, political activist, and diplomat. Life and career Lessing was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia to Gottfried Lessing (1877 - 1950) and Tatjana Lessing (née ...

(1914–1979), German diplomat *

Erich Lessing Erich Lessing (13 July 1923 – 29 August 2018) was an Austrian photographer. Lessing became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1955 and was a contributor since 1979. His portraits of poets, musicians, physicists and astronomers were published in a ...

(1923–2018), Austrian ''Magnum'' photographer *

Feodor Yulievich Levinson-Lessing Franz Yulievich Levinson-Lessing (russian: Фра́нц Юльевич Левинсо́н-Ле́ссинг), or ''Theodor Levinson-Lessing'' (March 9, 1861 – October 25, 1939 in St. PetersburgTomkeieff S.I. Franz Youlievich Loewinson-Lessin ...

(1861–1939), Russian geologist *

(born 1961), German violinist, pianist, composer and academic teacher *

Lawrence Lessing Lawrence P. Lessing is an American science writer. A native of Buffalo, New York, he started his career as a newspaper man in Pittsburgh. There he was a correspondent for ''Time'' magazine. He was a long-time member of the board of editors of ' ...

, US journalist *

Madge Lessing Madge Lessing (27 November 1873 – 14 August 1966) was a British stage actress and singer, panto principal boy and postcard beauty of Edwardian musical comedy who had a successful career in the West End in London, Europe and on Broadwa ...

(1862-1935), English actress * Roland Lessing (born 1978), Estonian biathlete *

Simon Lessing Simon Christopher Lessing, MBE, (born 12 February 1971) is a British triathlete who won five International Triathlon Union (ITU) world titles (1992, 1995(2), 1996 and 1998). He also won races at 70.3 (Half Ironman), ITU long distance and I ...

(born 1971), British athlete *

Theodor Lessing Karl Theodor Richard Lessing (8 February 1872, Hanover – 31 August 1933, Marienbad) was a German Jewish philosopher. He is known for opposing the rise of Hindenburg as president of the Weimar Republic and for his classic on Jewish self-hatr ...

(1872–1933), German-Jewish philosopher

Similar names

* Lessig

References

{{Surname German-language surnames