German · 1729–1781
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was the central literary figure of the German Enlightenment. His plays Nathan the Wise and Emilia Galotti established modern German drama; his Hamburg Dramaturgy freed German theater from French neoclassical models; and his Laocoon revolutionized European aesthetics by distinguishing the proper domains of painting and poetry. He also wrote foundational works on religious tolerance and theological criticism.