Georg Heinrich Ludwig Nicolovius (13 January 1767 - 2 November 1839) was a senior Prussian whose responsibilities primarily encompassed church and school affairs.
Life
Family provenance and early years
Ludwig Nicolovius was born in the capital of East Prussia, Königsberg. His father, Matthias Balthasar Nicolovius (1717-1778), was a senior in the Ministry of State. One of his brothers, (1768-1836), later became a publisher whose authors included Immanuel Kant. When he was only 11 Georg Heinrich was orphaned, after which, with his siblings (two brothers and two sisters), he was bought up by an unmarried great aunt called Johanna Catherina Reußner, who ensured that the boys were educated at the well regarded Collegium Fridericianum (secondary school). This respected the wishes of their deceased father who had attended the same establishment.
Further education
In 1782 he transferred to the Albertus University of Königsberg where he studied Jurisprudence and Philology. Two years later he decided on a switch to Theology, thinking to make a career in the church. Nicolovius was no disciple of Immanuel Kant, but he long nurtured a secret wish to meet Kant's friend, the brilliant philosopher Johann Georg Hamann (1730-1788). An opportunity for a meeting was finally secured in November 1785 and the two formed a close friendship during the Hamann's final years. Hamann's death in June 1788 affected him deeply.
