Kumpf, Johann ("Ermin")

Kumpf was born in Klagenfurt, the son of a servant and a maid, both from the Upper Palatinate. Johann Gottfried attended high school and from 1799 studied medicine in Vienna. In 1804 he received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Pest. In Trieste , he opened a medical practice in 1805. In autumn 1811 he returned to Klagenfurt, where he eventually became State physician.

However Kumpf's significance lay in his cultural work in Klagenfurt. Shortly after his return in 1811 he became editor of the newly founded journal Carinthia, which became a supplement to the Klagenfurt newspaper. In 1817 Kumpf was among the founders of the association for social entertainment; In 1818 he founded the Carinthian newspaper. 

Kumpf worked primarily as a poet, published in Castelli Selam , Aglaia, and under the pseudonym Ermin in Carinthia. His subjects include nature, religious considerations, love poems and panegyrics on Carinthia. 

As a physician, he founded a society for the care of the poor and the sick and he was Examiner at the Klagenfurt medical-surgical establishment.

Kumpf  died on February 21, 1862, and was buried in St. Ruprecht.

Schubert set to music his poems Der Mondabend (D141) and Mein Gruss an den Mai (D305).