92.77.57.3: + Ada Lessing

2025-07-18T10:10:28Z

+ Ada Lessing

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	Lessing is also the surname of:		Lessing is also the surname of:
			*[[Ada Lessing]] (1883-1953), German journalist and politician
	* [[Doris Lessing]] (1919–2013), British novelist and the 2007 Nobel Prize laureate in literature; once married to Gottfried Lessing		* [[Doris Lessing]] (1919–2013), British novelist and the 2007 Nobel Prize laureate in literature; once married to Gottfried Lessing
	* [[Gottfried Lessing]] (1914–1979), German diplomat		* [[Gottfried Lessing]] (1914–1979), German diplomat

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2024-02-15T04:18:39Z

demonym

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'''Lessing''' is a German surname of Slavic origin. The original Sorbian form, ''Lěsnik'', means either "forest dweller" or "woodman", ''lěs'' meaning "wood forest".<ref>{{cite web | title=Lessing Family History: Lessing Name Meaning| website=Ancestry | date=15 June 2021 | url=https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=lessing | access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref>

People with the surname Lessing include 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]].<ref>Binnow, "Die Familie Lessing"; Arend Buchholtz: ''Die Geschichte der Familie Lessing''. Berlin: C.R. Lessing, 1909. 2 volumes; Wolfgang Drews: ''Lessing'', Reinbek bei Hamburg, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1962, pp. 13–38; Dr Gerhard Stephan: "Die Familie Lessing", ''Kamenzer Heimatbuch'' 5, pp. 28–36.)</ref>
The family includes:
* {{Ill|Johann Gottfried Lessing|de}} (1693–1770) pastor primarus in [[Kamenz]], 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]]'s (the composer and pianist, 1810–1856) great-great-great-great-uncle, Johanne Sophie Susanna Lessing (1745–1818, daughter of Carl Heinrich Lessing 1713, a trumpeter) his grandmother.
* [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing]] (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]], critic for the ''[[Vossische Zeitung]]'', translator and Shakespearean scholar. Today his own works appear as prototypes of the later developed bourgeois German drama. Scholars generally see ''[[Miss Sara Sampson]]'' and ''[[Emilia Galotti]]'' as the first bourgeois tragedies, ''[[Minna von Barnhelm]]'' as the model for many classic German comedies, ''[[Nathan the Wise]]'' as the first German drama of ideas ("Ideendrama") and his theoretical writings ''Laokoon'' and ''[[Hamburg Dramaturgy]]'' 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 {{Ill|Christian Friedrich Voß|de}}) of the ''Vossische Zeitung''.
* Carl Friedrich Lessing (1778–1848), son of Karl Gotthelf Lessing (1740–1812),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4hcQAAAAYAAJ&dq=carl+friedrich+lessing+kanzler&pg=PA502 Review] of ''Die Lehre vom Menschen'' by Carl Friedrich Lessing, in ''Berliner Literarische Zeitung'', volume 2, no. 4, 21 January 1835, column 58</ref> published philosopher, chancellor under Prince [[Peter von Biron|Biron von Curland]] in [[Syców|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]], [[Anton von Werner]].
* [[Christian Friedrich Lessing]] (1809–1862, died and buried in [[Krasnoyarsk]], Siberia), physician, botanist and 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 {{ill|Daniel Heinrich Delius|de}}, a lawyer in Brussels and later president of the region of Trier, also sister of Clara von Ammon who married {{ill|Johannes Rösing (1833–1909)|de}}, a diplomat between the States and Germany and son of controversial politician {{Ill|Johannes Rösing (politician)|de|3=Johannes Rösing (Politiker)|lt=Johannes Rösing}} (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 {{Interlanguage link|Emil Ebers|de}} (1807–1884).
* {{Ill|Carl Robert Lessing|de}} (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).
* {{Ill|Gotthold Lessing (politician)|de|3=Gotthold Lessing (Politiker)|lt=Gotthold Ephraim Lessing the Younger}} (1861–1919), son of Carl Robert Lessing (1827–1895), landowner and liberal politician.
* [[Otto Lessing (sculptor)]] (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]].
* 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.
* {{ill|Konrad Lessing|de}} (1852–1916) landscape painter; son of Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880).
* {{Ill|Heinrich Lessing|de}} (1856–1930), painter; son of Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808–1880).
* [[Kolja Lessing]] (born 1961), German pianist, violinist, composer and music professor at the Stuttgart Musik Hochschule; great-great-great-great-great-nephew of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781).

Lessing is also the surname of:
* [[Doris Lessing]] (1919–2013), British novelist and the 2007 Nobel Prize laureate in literature; once married to Gottfried Lessing
* [[Gottfried Lessing]] (1914–1979), German diplomat
* [[Erich Lessing]] (1923–2018), Austrian ''Magnum'' photographer
* [[Feodor Yulievich Levinson-Lessing]] (1861–1939), Russian geologist
* [[Lawrence Lessing]], American journalist
* [[Madge Lessing]] (1862–1935), English actress
* [[Roland Lessing]] (born 1978), Estonian biathlete
* [[Simon Lessing]] (born 1971), British athlete
* [[Theodor Lessing]] (1872–1933), German-Jewish philosopher

==Similar names==
* [[Lessig]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Surname}}

[[Category:German-language surnames]]

Lessing - Revision history

92.77.57.3: + Ada Lessing

imported>AllTheUsernamesAreInUse: demonym