Career
In 1776, he began his studies of theology at the University of Halle, but his focus soon turned to geography and history. Later, he served as privat-docent at the University of Göttingen, where he was influenced by distinguished scholars that included Johann Christoph Gatterer, August Ludwig von Schlözer and Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. In 1786 he moved to Jena as an associate professor of geography and statistics, and in 1794 became a professor at the University of Erlangen.
Foreign much of his career Fabri received no pay for his lectures, only in 1815 did he begin to receive a fixed salary.