De Wette

De Wette, Wilhelm Martin Leberecht (1780-1849), a German theologian, son of a clergyman and born at Ulla, near Weimar. He was educated at the Gymnase of Weimar, and in 1799 entered the University of Jena. In 1807 he became Professor of Theology at Heidelberg. In 1810 he occupied a similar post at Berlin, but was banished in 1819 for manifesting sympathy with the assassin of Kotzebue. He returned to Weimar, where he prepared a work on Luther, wrote a romance, and displayed some talent for preaching. In 1822 he was appointed Professor of Theology at Basel, and died rector of the university there. His chief merits were as a biblical critic and exegetical lecturer.