The Lessing Society supports research on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), one of the key authors of the Enlightenment, and the wide range of his works, i.e., his literary texts as well as his manifold contributions to literary criticism, art theory, theology, philosophy, philology and classics. Its focus extends beyond Lessing himself to address the broader global context of Enlightenment and its legacies.

Founded at the University of Cincinnati in 1966, the Lessing Society has been and still is characterized by its international membership and activities with a focus on the United States and Germany. It publishes the highly regarded Lessing Yearbook (with articles in English and German) and organizes regular international conferences as well as panels at the annual conferences of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies (ASECS), the Goethe Society of North America (GSNA), the German Studies Association (GSA), and the Modern Language Association (MLA). It also cooperates with the German Lessing-Akademie and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für die Erforschung des 18. Jahrhunderts (DGEJ).