See Also: Humboldt, (Karl) Wilhelm, baron von(encyclopedia)
Humboldt, (Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich) Alexander, Freiherr (baron) von(encyclopedia)
Kupffer, Karl Wilhelm von(medicine)
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Baron von(dictionary)
Weierstrass, Karl (Theodor Wilhelm)(encyclopedia)
Rokitansky, Karl, baron von(encyclopedia)
Stein, (Heinrich Friedrich) Karl, imperial baron vom und zum(encyclopedia)
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, Freiherr (baron) von Leibniz(encyclopedia)
Humboldt Pie Cafe(tourism)
Humboldt (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)

Humboldt, (Karl) Wilhelm, baron von (sh)




born June 22, 1767, Potsdam, Prussia
died April 8, 1835, Tegel, near Berlin

German linguist and educational reformer.

The elder brother of Alexander von Humboldt, he held a number of government posts. As minister of education (1809), he raised elementary education standards and was instrumental in founding Friedrich Wilhelm University (now Humboldt University, or University of Berlin) in Berlin. Humboldt also contributed greatly to the philosophy of language, contending that its character and structure express the speaker's culture and individuality and that humans perceive the world through the medium of language. He also carried out research on the Basque language and Kawi (old Javanese).