Georg Gessner

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Georg Gessner
Born	(1765-03-11)11 March 1765 Dübendorf, Old Swiss Confederacy
Died	28 July 1843(1843-07-28) (aged 78) Zurich, Switzerland
Occupations	Theologian pastor
Spouses	Barbara Schulthess ​ (m. 1791)​ Anna Lavater ​ (m. 1795)​
Parents	Johann Kaspar Gessner (father) Elisabeth Keller (mother)
Relatives	Johann Kaspar Lavater (father-in-law)

Georg Gessner (11 March 1765 – 28 July 1843) was a Swiss theologian and pastor in Zurich. He was professor of practical theology from 1799, and from 1828 pastor at the Grossmünster and antistes of the Zurich church. Besides devotional writings, he wrote a three-volume biography of his father-in-law Johann Kaspar Lavater.

Biography

Georg Gessner was born on 11 March 1765 in Dübendorf, the son of Johann Kaspar Gessner, a pastor, and Elisabeth Keller. In 1791 he married Barbara Schulthess, daughter of David Schulthess, a silk manufacturer. In 1795 he married Anna Lavater, daughter of Johann Kaspar Lavater.

Gessner studied theology in Zurich. From 1787 he was a clergyman in Dübendorf and, in Zurich, at the orphanage (Waisenhaus) and at the Fraumünster. From 1799 he was professor of practical theology, and from 1828 pastor at the Grossmünster and antistes of the Zurich church.

Gessner was a popular preacher and was close to the revival movements of his time. As a member of the education council (Erziehungsrat) and of the school board (Schulherr) he was influential in church and school affairs. In 1812 he co-founded the Zurich Bible Society (Zürcher Bibelgesellschaft), and in 1819 the Mission Society (Missionsgesellschaft).

Besides numerous writings, most of them devotional, Gessner wrote a three-volume biography of his father-in-law Lavater and edited parts of Lavater's works. He died in Zurich on 28 July 1843.

References

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY SA. Text taken from Gessner, Georg​, Hans Ulrich Bächtold, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Bibliography

• G. Finsler, Georg Gessner, 1862
• R. Finsler, Aus den Tagebüchern von Georg Gessner, 1905
• F. W. Bautz, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, 2, 1990, 236