John Christopher Kunze

KUNZE, John Christopher. b. Artern, Saxony, Germany, 5 August 1744; d. New York City, 24 July 1807. A prominent, innovative educator and Lutheran clergyman of Pietist persuasion, Kunze was orphaned in 1758. He attended the orphanage school in Halle, and received a classical education at the gymnasia in Rossleben and Merseburg. He went on to study history, philosophy, and theology at the University of Leipzig, following which he worked as a teacher for three years at Closter-Bergen, near Magdeburg, and one year as an orphanage inspector at Graz. While at Graz, he was chosen by Halle’s theological faculty to go to America. Ordained by the Lutheran consistory at Wernigerode, he set sail for...