The Life of Gottfried Leibniz Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, also Leibnitz, Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von (1646-1716), German philosopher, mathematician, and statesman, regarded as one of the supreme intellects of the 17th century. Leibniz was born in Leipzig. He was educated at the universities of Leipzig, Jena, and Altdorf. Beginning in 1666, the year in which he was awarded a doctorate in law, he served Johann Philipp von Schönborn, archbishop elector of Mainz, in a variety of legal, political, and diplomatic capacities. In 1673, when the elector's reign ended, Leibniz went to Paris. He remai