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Johann Caspar Lavater (1741–1801)
Lavater, Johann Kaspar (läv’ä-ter). A Swiss physiognomist and theological writer; born at Zürich, Nov. 15, 1741; died there, Jan. 2, 1801. He was pastor of a church in his native town, and his semi-mystical religious writings won him great fame throughout Germany. In his ‘Christian Songs’ (first 100, 1776; second 100, 1780), he seeks to counteract the principles of Illuminism and Rationalism; and he has the same aim in the drama ‘Abraham and Isaac’ (1776), in the epics ‘Jesus the Messiah, or the Coming of the Lord’ (1780), ‘Joseph of Arimathea’ (1794), etc. His views of the inner life of the soul find expression in his ‘Private Diary of a Self-Observer’ (1772–73). But his most celebrated work is ‘Physiognomic Fragments’ (1775–78).