Rudolf Haym practiced, more or less simultaneously, at least three professions, and he did well in all three of them. As a student he developed a keen interest in politics that soon led to active participation and remained undiminished all his life. His second profession was that of a scholar, specializing in three major disciplines--philosophy, literary history, and political science--without suffering a loss of focus or depth in any of his chosen fields. Finally, he spent a large portion of his time writing political pamphlets and literary biographies, neither of which was directly part of his political or scholarly professions.

Haym was born on 5 October 1821 in Grünberg, Silesia. His father, Johann Gottlieb Haym, was a teacher at the public primary school; his mother, Henriette, née Gaertner, was descended on her own mother's side from a Huguenot family. When he was about six years old...