German-British bestselling author of historical non-fiction Andrea Wulf will give a lecture in German on the naturalist Georg Forster at the Natural History Museum Mainz next Wednesday, 30 September. An advance interview in English has now been published on the Leibniz Institute of European History’s blog Writing European History.
Speaking about Forster, who worked as a librarian in Mainz from 1788 to 1793 and was a supporter of the French Revolution, Wulf describes him as a man far ahead of his time: “His views, ideas, and writings surprised me again and again.” Not only was he an early advocate of human rights, but he also believed in equality between women and men. “Today we would call him a feminist,” Wulf says.
Further information about the lecture is available on our website.
The event is jointly organised by the Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG), the Collaborative Research Centre “Human Differentiation” at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the Natural History Museum Mainz.
The lecture will take place on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, at 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Natural History Museum Mainz, Reichklarastraße 1, Mainz.
