THOMASIUS, CHRISTIAN (1655-1728), German jurist and publicist, was born at Leipzig on Jan. 1, 1655, and was edu cated by his father, Jakob Thomasius (1622-1684), at that time head master of the Thomasschule. Through his father's lectures Christian came under the influence of the political philosophy of Hugo Grotius and Samuel Pufendorf, and continued the study of law at Frankfort-on-Oder. In 1684 he commenced the career of professor of natural law at Leipzig, and soon attracted attention by his abilities, but particularly by his daring attack upon tradi tional prejudices, in theology and jurisprudence. In 1687 he made the daring innovation of lecturing in German instead of Latin, and in the following year published a monthly periodical (Scherzhafte und ernsthafte, verniinftige und einfiiltige Gedanken fiber allerhand lustige und niitzliche Bucher und Fragen) taking the side of the Pietists in their controversy with the orthodox, and defending mixed marriages of Lutherans and Calvinists. In con sequence of these and other views, he was denounced from the pulpits, forbidden to lecture or to write (May io, 169o), and his arrest was ordered. The latter he escaped by flight to Berlin, and the elector Frederick III. offered him a refuge in Halle, with a salary of 5oo talers and the permission to lecture. He took
part in founding the university of Halle (1694), where he became second and then first professor of law and rector of the university. He died on Sept. 23, 1728. In theology Thomasius was a believer in the necessity of revealed religion for salvation.
Thomasius's most popular and influential German publications were his periodical already referred to (1688-8g) ; Einleitung zur Vernunft lehre (1691, 5th ed. 1719) ; Verniinftige Gedanken fiber allerhand auserlesene und juristische Handel (172o-21) ; Historie der Weisheit und Torheit (3 vols., 1693) ; Kurze Lehrsdtze von dem Laster der Zauberei mit dem Hexenprozess (1704) ; Weitere Erlduterungen der neueren Wissenschaft anderer Gedanken kennen zu lernen I).
See Luden, Christian Thomasius nach seinen Schicksalen und Schriften (1805) ; H. Dernburg, Thomasius und die Stiftung der Universitet Halle (1865) ; B. A. Wagner, Thomasius, ein Beitrag ur Wiirdigung seiner Verdienste (5872) ; Nicoladoni, Christian Thomasius. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Aufkldrung (Berlin, 1888) ; and E. Landsberg, Zur Biographie von Christian Thomasius (1894).