Christian Jakob Kraus

Christian Jakob Kraus
Christian Jakob Kraus
Born	(1753-07-27)27 July 1753 Osterode, Ducal Prussia
Died	25 August 1807(1807-08-25) (aged 54) Königsberg, East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia
Era	18th-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy
School	Cameralism
Main interests	Economics Linguistics
Influences Immanuel Kant Johann Georg Hamann Adam Smith
Influenced Wilhelm von Humboldt,Jakob Sigismund Beck

Christian Jakob Kraus (27 July 1753 – 25 August 1807) was a German comparative and historical linguist.

A native of Osterode (later belonging to East Prussia), Kraus studied at the universities of Königsberg and Göttingen. In 1782 he became a professor of practical philosophy and cameralism in Königsberg. A student of Immanuel Kant, Kraus was famous for importing the ideas of Adam Smith into the German academic scene. He was also a librarian of the Königsberg Public Library from 1786 to 1804. Kraus encouraged the East Prussian officials and nobility to improve rural conditions in the province; some of his ideas were later adapted in the era of Prussian reforms. Kraus died in Königsberg in 1807.