David Veit (8 November 1771, in Breslau – 15 April 1814) was a medical doctor and writer from the Kingdom of Prussia.

Life

His father, Juda Veit (1716–1786), was a banker, and his brother,

Simon Veit Simon Veit (25 May 1754, Brandenburg? - 1 October 1819, Berlin?) was a German merchant and banker of Jewish ancestry. Life and work His father, Juda Veit (1710–1786), was a wool merchant and founder of a bank. At Simon was several brothes an ...

, was the husband of

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

's daughter Brendel, making David uncle to the painters

Johannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Y ...

and

Philipp Veit Philipp Veit (13 February 179318 December 1877) was a German Romantic painter and one of the main exponents of the Nazarene movement. It is to Veit that the credit of having been the first to revive the nearly forgotten technique of fresc ...

. During David Veit's time as a student, he began a correspondence with Rahel Varnhagen von Ense, in which Veit also describes meeting the poet

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

. Veit and

Abraham Mendelssohn Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy (born Abraham Mendelssohn; 10 December 1776 – 19 November 1835) was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist. He was the father of Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn, Rebecka Mendelssohn, and Paul Mendel ...

travelled to study in Paris before Veit moved to Hamburg in 1799, where he worked as a doctor and writer and became associated with figures including

Johann Albert Heinrich Reimarus Johann Albert Heinrich Reimarus (11 November 1729 – 6 June 1814) was a German physician, natural historian and economist. He was the son of Hermann Samuel Reimarus, the brother of the writer Elise Reimarus and the father (by his first marriage ...

Friedrich Christoph Perthes Friedrich Christoph Perthes (21 April 1772 – 18 May 1843) was a German publisher. He was the nephew of Johan Georg Perthes. Life Perthes was born at Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. At the age of fifteen he became an apprentice in the servi ...

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (; ; 25 January 1743 – 10 March 1819) was a German philosopher, writer and socialite. He is best known for popularizing the concept of nihilism. He promoted the idea that it is the necessary result of Enlightenment th ...

and

Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

Works

* ''De organorum corporis humani tam energia seu activitate interna quam cum organis sociis connexione sen sympathia'', Halle 1797 * ''Allgemeine theoretische und praktische Grundsätze der chemischen Affinität oder Wahlanziehung zum gemeinnützigen Gebrauch für Naturforscher, Chemisten, Aerzte und Apotheker'', Berlin 1794 * ''J. A. H. Reimarus nach zurückgelegten Fünfzig Jahren seiner medizinischen Laufbahn. Ein biographischer Beytrag zur Feyer des 29. Aprils'', Hamburg 1807

Bibliography

Ludmilla Assing Rosa Ludmilla Assing (22 February 1821 in Hamburg – 25 March 1880 in Florence) was a German writer, who also wrote under the pseudonyms ''Achim Lothar'' and ''Talora''. Life Ludmilla Assing was the second daughter of author Rosa Maria Va ...

: ''Briefwechsel zwischen Rahel und David Veit'', 2 volumes, Leipzig 1861 * L. Geiger: ''Briefe von und an David Veit'', Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstag Martin Philippsons, Berlin 1916 * T. Zondek: ''Dr. med. David Veit (1771-1814)'', in: ''Hamburgische Geschichts- und Heimatblätter'' 8, 1970, S. 120–128 * T. Zondek: ''Dr. med. David Veit (1771-1814). Eine Gestalt aus der Emanzipationszeit'', in: ''Bulletin des Leo Baeck Institutes'', 15. Jg., Neue Folge, Nr. 52, S.49-77 {{DEFAULTSORT:Veit, David 1771 births 1814 deaths 18th-century German physicians Prussian physicians Writers from the Kingdom of Prussia 18th-century German Jews 18th-century German letter writers 18th-century German male writers 19th-century German letter writers