The Correspondent

Joachim Georg Darjes was born on 23 June 1714 in Güstrow (Mecklenburg), where his father was pastor of the Pfarrkirche St. Marien. His mother died three weeks after giving birth to him. The young Darjes studied theology and philosophy at Rostock and then at Jena, where in 1735 he became doctor of philosophy. Following a brief stint as privatdozent at Jena, he turned to legal studies, completing the doctor of law degree in 1739. When, five years later, he became professor of morals and politics, with the title of Hofrat, Haller wrote a poem to mark the occasion. At Jena, Darjes gained the reputation of being a very popular teacher. His many publications included Erste Gründe der Cameral-Wissenschaften (1756). After the end of the Seven Years’ War, he accepted the Prussian offer of a Geheimrat title and a professorship of law at Frankfurt/Oder. There he taught cameralism and in 1766 founded the Gelehrte Gesellschaft zum Nutzen der Wissenschaften und Künste. He died in Frankfurt on 17 July 1791.

In January 1741 Darjes married Katharine Wilhelmine Eleonore Teichmeyer, youngest daughter of Hermann Friedrich Teichmeyer, professor of botany, surgery, and anatomy at Jena. Ten months later Haller married her sister Sophie Amalia Christina. Their older sister had in 1732 married Johann Andreas Segner, whose colleague at Göttingen Haller became in 1736. After the death of Prof. Teichmeyer, in 1744, Darjes inherited the Freigüter Wenigenjena and Untercamsdorf.