Hermann Ebbinghaus

Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve. He was the father of the eminent neoKantian philosopher Julius Ebbinghaus.

Ebbinghaus was born in Barmen, in the Rhine Province of the Kingdom of Prussia, as the son of a wealthy Lutheran merchant, Carl Ebbinghaus. Little is known about his infancy except that he was brought up in the Lutheran faith and was a pupil at the town Gymnasium. At the age of, he began attending the University of Bonn, where he had planned to study history and philology. However, during his time there he developed an interest in philosophy. In 1870, his studies were interrupted when he served with the Prussian Army in the FrancoPrussian War. Following this short stint in the military, Ebbinghaus finished his dissertation on Eduard von Hartmanns Philosophie des Unbewussten , and received his doctorate on August 16, 1873, when he wasyears old. During the next three years, he moved around, spending time at Halle and Berlin.

Source: Wikipedia