Johann Jakob Wilhelm Heinse

(Johann Jakob) Wilhelm Heinse (February 16, 1749 - June 22, 1803), German author, was born at Langewiesen near Ilmenau in Thuringia. After attending the gymnasium at Schleusingen he studied law at Jena and Erfurt. In Erfurt he became acquainted with Wieland and through him with "Father" Gleim who in 1772 procured him the post of tutor in a family at Quedlinburg. In 1774 he went to Düsseldorf, where he assisted the poet JG Jacobi to edit the perio... more

(Johann Jakob) Wilhelm Heinse (February 16, 1749 - June 22, 1803), German author, was born at Langewiesen near Ilmenau in Thuringia. After attending the gymnasium at Schleusingen he studied law at Jena and Erfurt. In Erfurt he became acquainted with Wieland and through him with "Father" Gleim who in 1772 procured him the post of tutor in a family at Quedlinburg. In 1774 he went to Düsseldorf, where he assisted the poet JG Jacobi to edit the periodical Iris. Here the famous picture gallery inspired him with a passion for art, to the study of which he devoted himself with so much zeal and insight that Jacobi furnished him with funds for a stay in Italy, where he remained for three years (1780-1783). He returned to Düsseldorf in 1784, and in 1786 was appointed reader to the elector Frederick Charles Joseph, archbishop of Mainz, who subsequently made him his librarian at Aschaffenburg, where he died. The work upon which Heinse's fame mainly rests is Ardinghello and die glückseligen Inseln... less