Johann Georg Krünitz (20 March 1728 – 20 December 1796) was a German
encyclopedist
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...
who started the 242-volume
Oekonomische Encyklopädie and during his lifetime managed to complete its first 72 volumes.
Life
Krünitz was born in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
as the son of merchant Georg Christoph Krünitz. From 1747, he studied
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
and the natural sciences in
Halle (Saale)
Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East Berlin, East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chem ...
,
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
and
Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...
. After achieving his doctorate with a dissertation called ''De matrimonio multorum morborum remedio'' in 1749, he started to practice as a physician in Frankfurt. Krünitz married
Anna Sophie Lehmann in 1752 and moved to Berlin in 1759, where he continued to practice medicine until 1776. After Anna's death in 1780, he married
Charlotte Wilhelmine Halle, the daughter of economist
Johann Samuel Halle
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
.
Krünitz died in Berlin in 1795 while working on volume 73 of his ''Enzyklopädie''. The preface to this posthumously published volume contained the following macabre fact:
See also
*
Blotting paper coffee filter
References
* Annette Fröhner, ''Technologie und Enzyklopädismus im Übergang vom 18. zum 19. Jahrhundert''. Mannheim 1994.
External links
Electronic version of the encyclopedia a work in progress by the
University of Trier
The Trier University (), in the German city of Trier, was founded in 1473. Closed in 1798 by order of the then French administration in Trier, the university was re-established in 1970 after a hiatus of some 172 years. The new university camp ...
. As of August 2007, ''Aah!'' - ''Zythos'' have been digitized.
1728 births
1796 deaths
Writers from Berlin
German encyclopedists
People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg
University of Halle alumni
University of Göttingen alumni
German male non-fiction writers
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