Johann Gottlieb Fichte

Johann Gottlieb Fichte was born in 1762 in Saxony to a poor ribbon weaver and herded geese as a boy. A nobleman, astonished to hear him repeat a sermon word for word, paid for his schooling. He never finished university and lived for years as a private tutor; reading Kant overwhelmed him, and he walked to Königsberg to call on Kant, bringing an essay on the philosophy of religion for his opinion. Published anonymously, the essay was widely taken for a new work by Kant, and Fichte became famous at a stroke; at thirty-two he was appointed professor at Jena. A few years later, accused of atheism, he was forced to resign and moved to Berlin. During Napoleon's occupation of the city he delivered his famous Addresses to the German Nation. He was the first rector of the University of Berlin, and died at fifty-one of typhus caught from his wife, who had been nursing wounded soldiers.