Lessing, GOTTHOLD

EPHRAIM, 1729-1781. German dramatist and critic. His plays, Minna von Barnhelm, 1767, Emilia Galotti, 1772, and Nathan der Weise, 1779, advanced the national drama to a high degree of perfection. He began his career, 1758, as critic in the Literatur - Briefe, and in the Lao IMG:content-1073.png:[graphic][merged small] coon , 1766, carried criticism to a point never surpa ed. His Hamburg is che Dramaturgie , 1769, contains a vast fund of critical knowledge on dramatic subjects. He overthrew French cla icism, and established German literature on a firm foundation. His position in philosophy is shown by the famous maxim, "If God offered Truth in His right hand and the spirit of truth in the left, I would choose the left."