J.C. Kunze (390)

J.C. Kunze (5 August 1744–24 July 1807) was a Lutheran minister, an educator, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1780. Born in Germany in 1744, Kunze was educated in theology, history, and philosophy at the Academy of Leipzig, and later received a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After he was ordained a Lutheran Minister, he was invited to Philadelphia to work for fellow pastor and APS Member Henry Muhlenberg. In 1771, he married Muhlenberg’s daughter Henrietta Margaretta, and in 1779 became pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church.  Kunze was an active and passionate educator and was a strong advocate for teaching the English language to his fellow German immigrants and Lutheran pastors. As a part of this mission, Kunze began a pre-theological school in Philadelphia in 1773. In 1795, he created the first English-language Lutheran prayer and hymn book. He was also a sought-after scholar of Arabic and Hebrew, and in 1785 became an official translator for the U.S. Congress. In 1779, Kunze became a professor of philology at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1784, after moving to New York City to be the pastor of a newly formed congregation, became a professor at Columbia College. In addition to his work as an educator, Kunze had a talent for bringing people together by creating scholarly and cultural organizations. Inspired by the mission of the American Philosophical Society, Kunze helped create the Society for Useful Knowledge, he founded the German Society of New York with fellow APS Member Baron Friedrich von Steuben, and he helped form the Ministerium of New York, an organization of local Lutheran ministers. He served as the president of this latter organization until his death in 1807. (ANB)