Family Name: Kraus
First Name: Christian Jakob
Birth Date: Thu, Jul 26, 1753
Birth Place: Osterode
Death Date: Sat, Aug 24, 1805
Death Place: Königsberg
Main places of activity:
Place From To
Königsberg 1770 1777
Place From To
Göttingen 1777 1779
Place From To
Halle 1779 1780
Personal info:
Education

From April 1771, Kraus was immatriculated at Königsberg University, where he became part of the circle of students close to Immanuel Kant.

From December 1778, he moved to Göttingen to finish his studies and developed a strong interest in linguistics under the guidance of August Ludwig von Schlözer.

Kraus obtained his MA in Halle in 1780.
Career

Kraus was designated professor in 1781 and started teaching practical philosophy in Königsberg, giving lectures on Plato, Homer and Shakespeare and including elements of linguistics.

From 1790 he began teaching elements of cameralism and economic doctrines as connected to natural law and became Rector of the University in 1792.

From 1786 to 1804 he also performed the function of librarian at the Königsberg public library.

His economic insights had an impact on the reforms of the Prussian state at the turn of the nineteenth century.
Translations Other Works

translations activities

Kraus translated from English and is famed for his rearranged and widely circulating version of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.

He also published a German edition of David Hume's political essays and of Arthur Young's Poitical Arithmetick.

secondary bibliography references

C. Hasek, The Introduction of Adam Smith's Doctrines into Germany, New York, Columbia University Press, 1925, chapter 3.

F. Milkowski, "Kraus, Christian Jacob", in Neue Deutsche Biographie, 12 (1979), S. 681 f.

H. Mizuta, A Critical Bibliography of Adam Smith, London, Pickering & Chatto, 2002, pp. 134-136.

M. Gray, Prussia in Transition: Society and Politics Under the Stein Reform Ministry of 1808, Philadelphia, The American Philosophical Society, 1986, pp. 32-35, 52, 62.

D. Lindenfeld, The Practical Imagination. The German Sciences of State in the Nineteenth Century, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1997, pp. 62-64.

Translations

  • Political Arithmetic, Containing Observations on the Present State of Great Britain; and the Principles of Her Policy in the Encouragement of Agriculture. Addressed to the Oeconomical Societies in Europe

  • Translation Title: Politische Arithmetik
  • Original Author: Arthur Young
  • Original title: Political Arithmetic, Containing Observations on the Present State of Great Britain; and the Principles of Her Policy in the Encouragement of Agriculture. Addressed to the Oeconomical Societies in Europe
  • Publ. Year From: 1773 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Politische Arithmetik
  • Pub. Place: Königsberg
  • Pub. Date: 1776
  • Lang: German

  • Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects

  • Translation Title: David Hume's politische Versuche: von neuem aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Mit einer Zugabe der Untersetzers
  • Original Author: David Hume
  • Original title: Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects
  • Publ. Year From: 1757 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: David Hume's politische Versuche: von neuem aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Mit einer Zugabe der Untersetzers
  • Pub. Place: Königsberg
  • Pub. Date: 1799
  • Lang: German
  • Note:

    According to the preface, from the 1758 editon of Hume's Essays, Kraus translated nineteen among the political ones, excluding four of them revolving around strictly British issues.

  • An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

  • Translation Title: Staatwirthschaft
  • Original Author: Adam Smith
  • Original title: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
  • Publ. Year From: 1775 to:
  • lang: English
  • Translation: Staatwirthschaft
  • Pub. Place: Königsberg
  • Pub. Date: 1807
  • Lang: German
  • Note:

    The first four volumes, issued in 1808 posthumously and edited by Hans von Auerswald, are a loose paraphrase of Smith's first four books, The fifth volume deals with book five, but includes many adaptations from Kraus to meet the needs of economic reform of the Prussian state.

calamaio

By:

  • Giovanni Lista