HIPPEL, Theodor Gottlieb von (1741-1796), a German author, known chiefly as a humorist, was born on the 31st January 1741, at Gerdauen in East Prussia, where his father was rector of a school. In his sixteenth year he went to Königsberg to study theology; but through the influence of the Dutch councillor of justice, Woyt, he was induced to devote himself to jurisprudence. A Russian lieutenant, Von Keyser, whose acquaintance he made in Königsberg, took him in 1760 to St Petersburg, where he might have had a brilliant career had not his love for his country made it impossible for him to live away from it. Returning to Königsberg he became a tutor in a private family; but, falling in love with a young lady of high position, he, as the readiest means of enabling him to marry her, gave up his tutorship and devoted himself with enthusiasm to legal studies. He was successful in his profession, passing from one grade to another, until in 1780 he was appointed burgomaster and director of police in Königsberg, and in 1786 privy councillor of war and president of the town; as he rose in the world, however, his inclination for matrimony vanished, and the lady who had stimulated his ambition was forgotten. To write books in his country house near Königsberg was his favourite amusement, and some of them have still a certain popularity. Perhaps the best known is his lieber die Ehe (Concerning Marriage). He has also works on The Social Improvement of Woman, and on Female Education. Another curious book of his is Lebensläufe nach aufsteigender Linie, nebst Beilagen A, B, C (Careers according to an ascending line, with supplements A, B, C). His name is attached to several political writings of a satirical turn, and he was the author of a comedy Der Mann nach der Uhr, which was ...