
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt 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 and to the theory and practice of education. In particular, he is widely recognized as having been the architect of the Humboldtian education ideal, which was used from the beginning in Prussia as a model for its system of education and eventually in countries such as the US and Japan.
His younger brother, Alexander von Humboldt, was famous as a geographer, naturalist, and explorer.
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June 22, 1767
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Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany
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1792
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1794
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1797
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1800 |
May 17, 1800
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Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France
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1802
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1804
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1806
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1809
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