Roscher, Wilhelm Georg Friedrich (1817–1894)

Abstract

Roscher was born in Hannover into a well-established civil service family. He studied history and political science in Göttingen and Berlin. In 1840 he became lecturer in both subjects at Göttingen, in 1843 he was appointed extraordinary professor of political economy, and in the next year was promoted professor. In 1848 he transferred to Leipzig, where he taught for the rest of his life. Roscher had a Protestant background and was deeply religious, adhering to a rather ‘primitive form of religious belief’ (Max Weber 1903–6).