Johann Gottlieb, one of the most learned jurists of Germany, was born at Eisenberg in Saxony, Sept. 21, 1681. His life is totally unmarked by any Heinsius, event or incident of importance. He held a chair first of philosophy and afterwards of law at Halle, from which in 1724 he was transferred to a similar chair at Franeker in West Friesland. He next migrated to Frankfort-on-the-Oder, where he remained till 1733, when he once more resumed his professorship at Halle, where he died in 1741.

A list of his numerous works will be found in the Bibliotheca Germanica, tom. ii., p. 464. The principal are: Fundamenta studii causarum iuris; Syllae exemplorum, Hallo, 1719, in 8vo; Elementa Philosophiae Rationalis et Moralis, quibus praemissa Historia Philosophica, Francfort, 1728, in 8vo; Antiquitatum Romanarum Jurisprudentiae Illustrationum Synopsis, seu Institutionum Justiniani, Halle, 1718, in 8vo; Elementa Juri Civili et Gentium, Halle, 1733, in 8vo; Prolectiones Academicae in H. Grotil de Jure Belli ad Pacis liber, Berlin, 1744, in 8vo; Prolectiones Academicae in Sam. Puffendorf de Officio Hominis et Civis, Ibid., 1742, in 8vo; Historia Juri Civili Romani ac Germanici, Halle, 1735, in 8vo; Elementa Juri Civili secundum ordinem Institutionum, Franeker, 1725, in 8vo; Elementa Juri Civili secundum ordinem Pandectarum, Francfort, 1756, in 2 vols. 8vo; Elementa Juri Cambiali, Amsterdam, 1743, in 8vo. The works of Heinsius were collected and published by Ghl. praeclarus at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, under the title of Opera ad Universam Jurisprudentiam Philosophiamque Literarum humaniorum pertinentia, Geneva, 1744-48, in 8 vols. 4to, reprinted in the same city, with additions, 1771, in 9 vols. 4to; and to these two editions a supplementary volume was at the same time added. After the works of Cujas, this collection is perhaps the most valuable and necessary to a student of jurisprudence. The commentary of Heinsius on the Julian and Papian laws would alone suffice to place him in the rank of the greatest jurists; and if his authority has decreased somewhat in Germany, which we believe to be the case, it is because his successors, profiting by his researches, have been enabled to surpass him. We are also indebted to Heinsius for editions of the Jurisprudentia Romana et Attica, Leyden, 1738, in 3 vols. folio, with a learned preface prefixed to the first volume.