Friedrich Leibniz (1597–1652) was a Lutheran Christian lawyer and a notary, registrar and professor of moral philosophy within Leipzig University. He was the father of Gottfried Leibniz.
He completed his master’s degree at the University of Leipzig during 1622 and became an actuary in administration at the University. His first marriage in 1625 produced a son, Johann Friedrich, and a daughter, Anna Rosina. He was elected to the chair in moral philosophy at Leipzig in 1640. A subsequent 1644 marriage to Catharina Schmuck, a daughter of a well known lawyer (or professor of law) produced a son, the polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
During 1646 Leibniz was vice chairman of the faculty of philosophy and also was Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Leipzig, in addition to employment as actuary.
Leibniz is notable because his mathematical “academic descendants,” which include Carl Friedrich Gauss, number more than 109,000.
Jakob Thomasius (1622–1684) was a German academic philosopher and jurist. He is now regarded as an important founding figure in the scholarly study of the history of philosophy. His views were eclectic, and were taken up by his son Christian Thomasius.
He was influential in the contemporary realignment of philosophy as a discipline.
He wrote on a wide range of topics, including plagiarism and the education of women.
He was the teacher of Gottfried Leibniz at the University of Leipzig, where Thomasius was professor of Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy, remaining a friend and correspondent, and has been described as Leibniz’s mentor.
