Johann Arnold Ebert

Ebert was the son of a city soldier in Hamburg. There he attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and then the Akademisches Gymnasium. In his youth, Ebert was greatly influenced by the poet Friedrich von Hagedorn, who supported him and encouraged his interest in English language and literature. He began to study theology at the University of Leipzig in 1743, but then switched to philology. He became part of the circle of contributors to the Bremer Beiträge and was also in contact with the literary circle of Johann Christoph Gottsched.

In 1748, he became the Hofmeister of the Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig through his friend Karl Christian Gärtner. There he gave instruction in translation into the English language, teaching even the crown prince Charles William Ferdinand. He was in friendly contact with the important men of letters who lived in Brunswick and surrounding areas, including Justus Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariae, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Jerusalem, Karl Christian Gärtner, and Konrad Arnold Schmid, as well as later Johann Joachim Eschenburg and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (in whose appointment at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel he played a leading role). In 1753 he became a full professor and lectured on history. In 1770 Eschenburg took over these lectures, whereas Ebert began the teaching of Greek. In 1773 he married Louise Gräfe, the daughter of the councillor and composer Johann Friedrich Gräfe. In 1775, he became a canon at St. Cyriacus collegiate church in Braunschweig. In 1780, he was appointed councilor. Ebert died in 1795 in Braunschweig, where he was buried in the Martini cemetery.

Ebert's importance is based less on his own lyrical works than on his role as a cultural and literary agent. Most influential was his translation of Edward Young's Night-Thoughts, which elicited a rapturous enthusiasm for Young and a large number of imitations. With this work, Ebert set about increasing the esteem of English literature in the German-speaking world.

• Johann Arnold Ebert. Episteln und vermischte Gedichte. Hamburg, 1789

• Joseph Leighton. "Ebert, Johann Arnold." Literaturlexikon. Autoren und Werke deutscher Sprache, ed. Walther Killy. Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verlag, Munich: Gütersloh, 1992, Vol. 3, p. 156f.
• Annett Lütteken. "Ebert, Johann Arnold." Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 8. bis 18. Jahrhundert, ed. Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Dieter Lent et al. Braunschweig: Appelhans, 2006, ISBN 3-937664-46-7, p. 183.

• Fritz Meyen. Bremer Beiträger am Collegium Carolinum in Braunschweig. K. Chr. Gärtner, J. A. Ebert, F. W. Zachariä, K. A. Schmid. Braunschweig: Waisenhaus-Buchdr. und Verl., 1962 (Braunschweiger Werkstücke 26)
• Georg Hübner. Lessings Flucht von Hamburg nach Wolfenbüttel: die Rolle Prof. Johann Arnold Eberts bei diesem folgenschweren Entschluss, dokumentiert anhand des Briefwechsels zwischen ihm und G. E. Lessing. Hamburg, 2003 (Schriftenreihe der Lessing-Gesellschaft, 13)
• Wilhelm Creizenach (1877), "Ebert, Johann Arnold", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 5, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 586–587
• Christel Matthias Schröder (1959), "Ebert, Johann Arnold", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 4, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 253–253; (full text online)

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• Literature by and about Johann Arnold Ebert in the German National Library catalogue