A member of the

von Kleist The House of Kleist is the name of an old and distinguished Pomeranian Prussian noble family, whose members obtained many important military positions within the Kingdom of Prussia and later in the German Empire. Notable members *Henning Alexan ...

family, Ewald was born in Wicewo (Wicewo) in

Farther Pomerania Farther Pomerania, Hinder Pomerania, Rear Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania (german: Hinterpommern, Ostpommern), is the part of Pomerania which comprised the eastern part of the Duchy and later Province of Pomerania. It stretched roughly from the Od ...

. He studied jurisprudence at the University of Leipzig and the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

and may have started his interest in electricity at the latter university under the influence of Willem 's Gravesande. From 1722–1745 he was dean of the cathedral at Kamień Pomorski in the Kingdom of Prussia, after which he became president of the royal court of justice in Koszalin. On 11 October 1745 he independently invented the Kleistian jar which could store electricity in large quantities. He communicated this discovery to a group of Berlin scientists in late 1745, and the news was transferred in a confused form to Leyden University where it was further investigated. This became more commonly known as the Leyden jar after graduate student Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leyden.

References

1700 births 1748 deaths People from Tychowo 18th-century German lawyers 18th-century German inventors Deans (Christianity) 18th-century German Lutheran clergy 18th-century German physicists Ewald Georg People from the Province of Pomerania Leipzig University alumni Leiden University alumni {{Germany-physicist-stub