Ernst Chladni - Personal Life

Personal Life

Although Chladni was born in Wittenberg, Germany, Chladni's family was from Kremnica, a mining town now in central Slovakia, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. This has led to Chladni as being identified in the literature as German, Hungarian and Slovak.

Chladni came from an educated family of academics and learned men. Chladni's great-grandfather, Georg Chladni (1637–92), a Lutheran clergyman, had to flee Kremnica on October 19, 1673 during the Counter Reformation. Chladni's grandfather, Martin Chladni (1669–1725), was also a Lutheran theologian, and in 1710 became professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, and from 1720-1721 was dean of the faculty of theology and later rector of the university. Chaldni's uncle, Justus Georg Chladni (1701–1765), was a law professor at University of Wittenberg.

Another uncle, Johann Martin Chladni (1710–1759), was a theologian and historian, and professor at the University of Erlangen and the University of Leipzig. Chladni's father, Ernst Martin Chladni (1715–1782), was a law professor and rector of the University of Wittenberg, where he joined the law faculty in 1746. His mother was Johanna Sophia and Chaldni was an only child. Chaldni's father disapproved of his son's interest in science and insisted that Chladni become a lawyer.

Chladni studied law and philosophy in Wittenberg and Leipzig, and obtained a law degree in 1782 from the University of Leipzig. When his father died in 1782, Chladni began his research in physics in earnest.

Chladni died in 1827 in Breslau, Lower Silesia, an area that is now in southwestern Poland. When Chladni died, this town was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was a member of the German Confederation.