Gotthard Friedrich Stender
Gotthard Friedrich Stender, known as Old Stender, was a Baltic German Lutheran pastor and language pioneer. He was born on 27 August 1714 in Laši, Courland (now in Latvia).
He studied theology at the universities of Jena and Halle (1736–1739) and worked as a tutor, teacher, and pastor in several towns. In 1759 he moved to Königslutter and later Copenhagen, where he taught geography and even made a globe for the Danish king Frederik V. He also joined a Freemason lodge. In 1765 he returned to Courland and spent the rest of his life as a pastor in Sēlpils and Sunākste. He died on 17 May 1796 in Sunākste.
Stender was the first Latvian grammarian and lexicographer and helped start Latvian secular literature in the 18th century. He wrote the first Latvian–German and German–Latvian dictionaries, an encyclopedia “A Book of High Wisdom on the World and Nature” (1774), and the first illustrated Latvian alphabet book (1787). He created didactic tales and poems to educate peasants and promoted Latvian education. His grammar and dictionary were used by Latvians, Baltic Germans, and scholars from other countries. He and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder were among the first to analyze Latvian folk songs, riddles, proverbs, and sayings.
His family continued his legacy: his son Alexander Johann Stender, his grandson Johann Christian Stender, and his great-grandson Karl Gottlob Stender all became pastors. Stender’s work helped shape Latvian language and culture, and in 2014 Latvia issued a silver euro coin in his honor.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:32 (CET).