Heinrich Schmidt (December 18, 1874 – May 2, 1935) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

archivist, naturalist, philosopher,

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

and a student of Ernst Haeckel.

Early life and education

Schmidt was born in

Heubach Heubach is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 10 km east of Schwäbisch Gmünd, and 13 km southwest of Aalen. The town finds itself at the edge of the Rems River Valley and at the base o ...

in the German State of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

. From 1890 to 1894 he attended a teacher training school in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...

and then worked as an elementary school teacher. In 1897 he moved on to scientific training in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. He studied there under the financial support of Ernst Haeckel and in 1900 became his private secretary. Since Schmidt lacked formal college training, Haeckel sent him the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

to study under his former student, Arnold Lang. There Schmidt earned his Doctorate in 1904. By 1912 he was an archivist in the Phyletic Institute and in 1916 he became head of the Haeckel Archive. Schmidt was awarded the title of full Professor in 1919. After Haeckel's death in 1920, Schmidt became his executor and director of the Ernst Haeckel House at the

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

. Schmidt, as Haeckel before him, was also a member of the ''Deutsche Monistenbund'', a society of

Monists Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...

. In 1920 he became its chairman and remained so until his death in 1935. Schmidt was a staunch representative of "Haeckelism" and its theories of evolutionary development. He was also editor of the journal ''Monistische Monatshefte''. After this publication was abolished in 1933 for political reasons, Schmidt founded the journal ''Nature and Spirit''. Andreas W. Daum, ''Wissenschaftspopularisierung im 19. Jahrhundert: Bürgerliche Kultur, naturwissenschaftliche Bildung und die deutsche Öffentlichkeit, 1848–1914''. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1998, , pp. 194, 217, 228, 390, 509, including a short biography.

Works

The management and archiving of Haeckel's vast legacy in the years following his death formed the bulk of Heinrich Schmidt's work. By 1933, however, ideological and political issues increasingly became a priority. Schmidt's predominantly social democratic thinking gave way to a radical

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

then being espoused by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

. In this context he took up some racist views which, while extreme by today's standards, were far exceeded by the opinions of his colleagues Ludwig Plate and Hans F.K. Günther.Uwe Hoßfeld, "Haeckels »Eckermann«: Heinrich Schmidt (1874–1935)", In: Matthias Steinbach & Stefan Gerber (eds.), ''Klassische Universität und akademische Provinz: Die Universität Jena von der Mitte des 19. bis in die 30er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts.'' (Jena: Bussert & Stadeler) 2005, p. 284 In its later editions, Schmidt's journal "''Nature and Spirit''" took a detour from its monistic tradition and published works on

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

and

racial hygiene The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an animal ...

Erwin Baur Erwin Baur (16 April 1875, in Neuried, Ichenheim, Grand Duchy of Baden – 2 December 1933) was a German geneticist and botanist. Baur worked primarily on plant genetics. He was director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research (since 1 ...

Eugen Fischer Eugen Fischer (5 July 1874 – 9 July 1967) was a German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics, and a member of the Nazi Party. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, ...

and

Fritz Lenz Fritz Gottlieb Karl Lenz (9 March 1887 in Pflugrade, Pomerania – 6 July 1976 in Göttingen, Lower Saxony) was a German geneticist, member of the Nazi Party,National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

meaning ultimately failed.Heiner Fangerau, ''Das Standardwerk zur menschlichen Erblichkeitslehre und Rassenhygiene von Erwin Baur, Eugen Fischer und Fritz Lenz 1921–1941,'' Dissertation, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Fakultät für Medizin, 2000, p. 66

Selected publications

* ''Haeckels Embryonenbilder. (Haeckel's Embryo Photographs)'', Frankfurt a. M. 1909 * ''Fruchtbarkeit und Vermehrung (Fertility and Reproduction)'', Urania 1927 * ''Der Kampf ums Dasein (Fight for Survival)'', Urania 1930 * ''Mensch und Affe (Man and Monkey)'', Urania 1932 * ''Philosophisches Wörterbuch (Philosophical Dictionary)'' * ''Ernst Haeckel. Denkmal eines großen Lebens (Ernst Haeckel. Monument to a Great Life)'', Jena 1934

References

External links

Literature by and about Heinrich Schmidt
at the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060111082614/http://www2.uni-jena.de/biologie/ehh/personal/uhossfeld/Haeckels_Eckermann.pdf
and Ernst Haeckel Museum in

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Heinrich 20th-century German philosophers 1935 deaths 1874 births German male writers