Froebel, Friedrich

Froebel, Friedrich (Wilhelm August)

 or Friedrich Wilhelm Fröbel

(born April 21, 1782, Oberweissbach, Thuringia, Ernestine Saxony—died June 21, 1852, Marienthal, near Bad Liebenstein, Thuringia) German educator and founder of the kindergarten. Influenced by the theories of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, he founded an infant school in 1837 that he later called the Kindergarten, or “garden of children.” He believed in “self-activity” and play as essential factors in child education, the teacher's role being not to drill or indoctrinate but rather to encourage self-expression through play. He greatly influenced modern techniques in preschool education, including the ideas of John Dewey.