Two pages from Becker's "Weltgeschichte" (1885 edition)

Karl Friedrich Becker (1777 – March 15, 1806) was a German educator and historian who was a native of Berlin.

He studied history and philosophy at the University of Halle, and after finishing his studies, worked as a tutor in Cottbus. From 1798 to 1800 he was a schoolteacher in Berlin, but due to poor health had to resign from teaching and devote his time to literary and historical work. Becker died on March 15, 1806 at the age of 29. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof I der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. I of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.

Becker is remembered today as author of the nine-volume Weltgeschichte für Kinder und Kinderlehrer (World History for Children and Teachers of Children). This work was published between 1801 and 1805, and after his death was continued, edited and revised by numerous authors that included Johann Wilhelm Löbell (1786-1863), Wilhelm Adolf Schmidt (1812-1887) and Karl Eduard Arnd (1802-1874). Other publications by Becker include:

• Erzählungen aus der Alten Welt für die Jugend (Stories from the Old World for Youth), (1801-1803 Halle), 3 volumes; Later edition by Hermann Masius (1873).
• Die Dichtkunst aus dem Gesichtspunkt des Historikers (Poetry from the Viewpoint of the Historian), (Berlin 1803)

[edit] References

This article is based on a translation of the article on Karl Friedrich Becker from the German Wikipedia.

• “Becker, Karl Friedrich” in Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (4th edition) (German)

[edit] See also

• Franz Xaver von Wegele, “Becker, Karl Friedrich” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Band 2 (Leipzig, 1875), S. 222-223. (German)