Heinrich Julian Schmidt


Heinrich Julian Schmidt was a German journalist and historian of literature.

Biography

He was born in Marienwerder in West Prussia.
After studying history and philosophy at the University of Königsberg, he was appointed in 1842 to a mastership in the Luisenstadt Realschule in Berlin.
From 1848 to 1861, he owned and edited Die Grenzboten conjointly with Gustav Freytag.
In 1861, he moved to Berlin where he was editor-in-chief of the Berliner allgemeine Zeitung, and after that dedicated himself to literary history. In 1878 was rewarded for the journalistic services rendered to the government, by a pension from the emperor William I. He died at Berlin on March 27, 1886.
Julian Schmidt's principal contributions to literary history are:
  • Geschichte der Romantik im Zeitalter der Revolution und Restauration
  • Geschichte der deutschen Nationalliteratur im 19. Jahrhundert His numerous critical articles for Die Grenzboten formed the basis for this. The 5th ed., revised and enlarged, appeared under the title Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur seit Lessings Tod.
  • Geschichte des geistigen Lebens in Deutschland von Leibniz bis auf Lessings Tod
The latter two works subsequently appeared as Geschichte der deutschen Literatur von Leibniz bis auf unsere Zeit. Schmidt also wrote a Geschichte der französischen Literatur seit der Revolution, Uebersicht der englischen Litteratur im 19. Jahrhundert ; Schiller und seine Zeitgenossen ; the collections of essays Bilder aus dem geistigen Leben unserer Zeit, and ''Porträts aus dem 19. Jahrhundert''

An evaluation from the New International Encyclopædia

Julian Schmidt exercised more influence upon the period of German intellectual life in which he worked than has been accorded him. As a critic in journals and periodicals, his discussions comprised the entire scope of intellectual life in science, arts, and politics. The forte of his criticism, especially in regard to works of art, lay in an almost infallible instinct to perceive truth, power, and sterling worth, which quality enabled him to teach his contemporaries not to borrow their views of things from remote chains of thought, but to trust the spontaneity of their own feelings.