Georg Ludwig COLLINS

Collins, Georg Ludwig (1763-1814)

Georg Ludwig Collins, of Scottish descent, was the son of Edward Collins, a Königsberg factory owner whose fortunes collapsed, causing Collins to postpone his university studies and instead move to Riga in 1778 where he took up a position with the silk trade, and where he also had relatives (his uncle, William Collins, was a prominent Riga merchant, and a son of William had married one of Georg’s sisters, both living in Riga). After four years with the silk firm, Georg was able to matriculate at the university in Könïgsberg (9 September 1784) to study theology, remaining a year before continuing his studies in Leipzig in 1785. He returned to Riga in 1787 to work as a Hofmeister to the Scottish family Renny, but the following year accepted a pastorate in the Reformed congregation there (1788). He married the daughter of a prominent citizen in January 1789, and together had 16 children. Collins was a successful and popular church reformer, and on the 25th anniversary of his taking office (1813) was given a doctorate by the university in Dorpat. He was also a prominent member in several Masonic lodges in Riga joining first the Nordstern (founded in 1750, but renamed Zum Schwert when it adopted the Strict Observance), then later Zur kleinen Welt, where he served as Master.

A “Pastor Collins” traveled to St. Petersburg on Kant’s behalf when he was inducted in absentia into the Academy of Sciences (see Kant’s letter to Nicolovius, 7 July 1797 (#758, Ak. 12:179), and Nicolovius’s letter to Kant of the same day - #759, Ak. 12:179). A note to the second letter quotes a letter from Hippel to a friend in St. Petersburg that Pastor Collins had traveled to St. Petersburg and married Professor Euler’s daughter; this was Georg’s older brother, Johann David (1761-1833). A set of notes from Kant’s moral philosophy <../Notes/notesMoral.htm> lectures were once owned by Collins, as was a set of anthropology <../Notes/notesAnthropology.htm> notes. [Sources: Bartlett 2000] [last update: 2 Sep 2008]

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