Smilch, Johann Peter (1707-1767)

Johann Peter Sssmilch was born the son of a well-to-do business family on 3 September
1707 in Zehlendorf near Berlin. First at the Neustdtischen Gymnasium, he transferred in
1716 to the Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin. The deputy headmaster of the school,
Johann Leonhard Frisch (1666-1743), who exchanged letters with Leibniz, encouraged
Sssmilchs interest in the natural sciences and medicine. Nevertheless, he completed his
studies in theology and classical philology in 1727 at the University of Halle. There, he
attended lectures from the likes of August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), Johann H.
Michaelis (1668-1738), and Joachim Lange (1670-1744), which converted him to Pietism. In
the summer of 1728, he switched to Jena, where he also attened classes in philosophy and the
natural sciences. Individuals who especially shaped him there were Jacob Carpov (16671768), Johann P. Reusch (1691-1758), Johann Liborius Zimmermann (1702-1734), and Franz
Buddeus (1667-1729). On 26 April 1732, he defended his Dissertatio physica de cohaesione
et attractione corporum (Jena: 1738). In 1736, after a position as a tutor, he became ordained
as a minister. With the death of the influential Wolfiann theologian, Johann Gustav Reinbeck
(1682-1741), he was made provost of Clln an der Spree by the King of Prussia, Friedrich II
(1712-1786), and appointed minister at St. Peter in Berlin. His most important academic
work, Die gttliche Ordnung in den Vernderungen des menschlichen Geschlechtes (2 vols.,
Berlin: 1740), paved the way to these positions. Christian Wolff (1679-1754) honored his
efforts by writing a forward for the work. By 1754, it had gone through 12 editions. The
basis of the work is a collection of statistics from England and Germany about births, cases of
death, sicknesses, etc. Theologically, the work aimed at a demographic proof of God by
analyzing the providential acts of God, which, on the one hand, preserved creation and its
species through conservatio and, on the other hand, controlled and changed the world through
gubernatio. Sssmilchs method, which ventured into new territory with statistics on
population development, also contributed to the basis of actuarial mathematics. He was
honored for his work in this area, being named a member of the Prussian Academy of
Sciences in 1745. Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) also supported his further statistical work.
Sssmilch defended orthodox theology against the rationalism and deism of the Academy
President, Pierre de Maupertuis (1698-1759), as well as against Christian Edelmann (16981767), a key figure in the Berlin Enlightenment. He died from a heart attack on 22 March
1767 in Berlin. The Neologist Johann Joachim Spalding (1714-1804) dedicated a funeral
sermon to Sssmilch.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (major works)

Dissertatio physica de cohaesione et attractione corporum (Jena, 1738).
Die gttliche Ordnung in den Vernderungen des menschlichen Geschlechts, aus der
Geburt, dem Tod und Fortpflanzung desselben bewiesen, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1740;
niederlndische bersetzung, Amsterdam, 1770-1772).
Die Unvernunft und Bosheit des berchtigten Edelmanns durch seine schndliche
Vorstellung des obrigkeitlichen Amtes (Berlin, 1747).
Versuch eines Beweises, da die erste Sprache ihren Ursprung nicht von Menschen,
sondern allein vom Schpfer erhalten habe (Berlin, 1766).

Further Reading:
Paul Troschke, Hans Peter Smilch (Berlin, 1955).
Franz Weiling, ,Die gttliche Ordnung J. P. Smilchs als Erstlingswerk statistischer und
biometrischer Arbeistweise, Forschungen und Fortschritte 41 (1967): 296-300.
Herwig Birg (ed.), Ursprnge der Demographie in Deutschland. Leben und Werk von
Johann Peter Smilchs (1707-1767) (Frankfurt & New York, 1968).
Wolfgang Neugebauer, Johann Peter Smilch, in Gerd Heinrich (ed.), Berlinische
Lebensbilder, vol. 5 Theologen (= Einzelverffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission
zu Berlin 60) (Berlin, 1990), 183-200.
Friedrich W. Graf, Smilch, Johann Peter, in Biographisch-Bibliographisches
Kirchenlexikon vol. 9 (Nordhausen, 1996), 210-231.
Ulrich L. Lehner, Marquette University