Wilhelm von Humboldt

Wilhelm von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (, also US: , UK: ; German: [ˈvɪlhɛlm fɔn ˈhʊmbɔlt]; 22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a Prussian philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin, which was named after him in 1949 (and also after his younger brother, Alexander von Humboldt, a naturalist). He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language, ethnolinguistics and to the theory and practice of education. He made a major contribution to the development of liberalism by envisioning education as a means of realizing individual possibility rather than a way of drilling traditional ideas into youth to suit them for an already established occupation or social role. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Wilhelm von Humboldt has received more than 722,718 page views. His biography is available in 65 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 64 in 2019). Wilhelm von Humboldt is the 104th most popular philosopher (down from 102nd in 2019), the 130th most popular biography from Germany (down from 128th in 2019) and the 14th most popular German Philosopher.

Wilhelm von Humboldt is most famous for his work in linguistics, philosophy, and education. He was a professor of philology at the University of Berlin and one of the first proponents of the idea that language is an organic part of culture.