Background
Bode was born in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany on January 16, 1731; son of a poor day laborer from Schöppenstedt, and went as a shepherd boy to his grandfather in Barum.
journalist linguist publisher translator
Bode was born in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany on January 16, 1731; son of a poor day laborer from Schöppenstedt, and went as a shepherd boy to his grandfather in Barum.
From 1745 he studied music in Braunschweig, and in 1750 became an oboist in an ensemble there.
He continued his music studies at the University of Helmstedt, where he also learned French and English. In 1752, he composed a number of works in Hannover, where he also began to write. He worked for the Kochsche Theater, and from 1762–63 edited the Hamburgischen Korrespondenten.
By a second marriage to a rich pupil (Simonette Tam), he came into the possession of a large fortune. This store sold its own and other works, including Lessing's Dramaturgie, Goethe's Götz, and Klopstock's Oden, but the venture soon failed, taking much of Bode's fortune with it. In 1778 Bode moved to Weimar, where he served as chief clerk and court counselor to the countess of Bernstorff, the widow of Andreas Peter Bernstorff.
After the order was banned in Bavaria in 1784, he became the de facto chief executive officer, following Knigge's resignation and Weishaupt's flight. According to his travel journal, some of them comprised a secret core, the "Philadelphians", in the manner of the Illuminati. He died in Weimar in 1793.
He met Adolph Knigge, a member of Illuminati, which he joined, acquiring the rank of Major Illuminatus in January 1783. In 1787 he went to France, Strasbourg, and Paris, where he met members of the Lodge of Philalèthes.