Hellmut Wilhelm (10 December 1905 – 5 July 1990) was a German sinologist known for his broad knowledge of both Chinese literature and Chinese history. Wilhelm was an expert on the ancient Chinese divination text I Ching (Yi jing), which he believed to represent the essence of Chinese thought. He also produced one of the most widely used German-Chinese dictionaries of the 20th century. He held teaching positions at Peking University and the University of Washington.

Wilhelm's father, Richard Wilhelm, was also a noted sinologist.

Hellmut Wilhelm was born on 10 December 1905 in the Chinese city of Tsingtao (modern Qingdao), which was then a German enclave due to the Kiautschou Bay concession of 1891. Wilhelm was the third son of the German missionary and sinologist Richard Wilhelm. His early education in China coincided with the Xinhai Revolution, when the Qing dynasty was overthrown and China moved toward republican government, and he was intimately familiar with the Chinese intellectual world of that era. When Qingdao was occupied by the Japanese Army, Japan having declared war on Germany in 1914 at the beginning of World War I, Wilhelm's parents sent him to live with friends in Shanghai for his safety.

Following the war's conclusion, Wilhelm's family returned to Germany, where his father became the first chair of Sinology at the University of Frankfurt. Wilhelm first attended a preparatory school in Stuttgart, then began studying at the University of Frankfurt, where he also served as his father's assistant. He later attended Kiel University and the University of Grenoble, studying law and political science. He passed the German Staatsexamen ("State Examination") in law in 1928. After his father's death in 1930, Wilhelm decided to continue his father's work in ancient Chinese literature and pursue a career in Chinese scholarship.

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