Wilhelm Gottlieb Tennemann (1761-1819), German historian of philosophy, was born at Erfurt.

Educated at his native town, he became lecturer on the history of philosophy at Jena in 1788. Ten years later he became professor at the same university, where he remained till 1804. His great work is an eleven-volume history of philosophy, which he began at Jena and finished at Marburg, where he was professor of philosophy from 1804 till his death. He was one of the numerous German philosophers who accepted the Kantian theory as a revelation.

In 1812 he published a shorter history of philosophy, which was translated into English in 1852 under the title Manual of the History of Philosophy.

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