Robert Motherby

Robert Motherby (23 December 1736 – 13 February 1801) was an English merchant in based in East Prussia, and a friend of Immanuel Kant.

Robert moved to Kongsberg around 1751, after Joseph Green, a fellow merchant from Hull, was seeking a reliable young Englishman who could become his partner.

Immanuel Kant was a regular Sunday guest at Motherby's house;[3] he played and joked with the children and had lunch.

For his part, when Kant invited Robert Motherby to lunch, he sent his servant Martin Lampe in the morning with a written billet.

Kant attached great importance to this formalism: the invited person should be given the freedom to say no if he did not like it.