Gottlieb Conrad, a German poet, was born at Colmar in 1736, and was educated at the university of Halle. He was destined for the legal profession; but an attack of ophthalmia, which issued in total blindness, gave a new bent to his career. He first, in 1778, established in his native town a military seminary for the education of Protestant youths. When the French revolution put a stop to that enterprise, his attention was then devoted to literature. He was engaged from that time till his death, in 1809, in writing tales, odes, ballads, and poetical epistles, and in translating dramatic pieces from the French. His Poetische Versuche were published in 10 vols., 1802-10; and his Prosaische Versuche in 10 vols., 1810-13. Pfeffel's elder brother Christian Friedrich was distinguished as a jurisconsult and diplomatist.