Lessing, Theodor, 1872-1933

Theodor Lessing was born in Hannover in 1972. He studied medicine in Freiburg, Bonn and Munich, where he switched to philosophy, literature and psychology. In 1907 he returned to Hannover, where he taught philosophy at the Technische Hochschule. He served as a physician in World War I and established the Volkshochschule in Hanover in 1919. In the 1920s, he became a prolific writer and published articles and essays in several newspapers and magazines. Lessing left Germany in March of 1933 and moved to Marienbad from where he continued to publish in exile newspapers. He was shot in his office on August 30, 1933 and died the next day.

From the guide to the Theodor Lessing Collection, 1922-1968, (Leo Baeck Institute Archives)