Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Gone's for once the old magician With his countenance forbidding; I 'm now master, I 'm tactician, All his ghosts must do my bidding. The child of an imperial councilor, Goethe had a thoroughly classical education before entering Leipzig University in 1765. Having achieved both literary and commercial success in his lifetime, Goethe remains one of the most influential figures in modern era literature. In the drawing academy run by Adam Friedrich Oeser—friend and teacher of the art historian Johann Winckelmann, then living in Rome—Goethe indirectly became one of Winckelmann’s disciples. But if you treat him as if he were what he … Gemeinsam mit seiner jüngeren Schwester Cornelia wuchs er in einem repräsentativen Haus in der Frankfurter Innenstadt auf. 1962). The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. info)); Frankfurt am Main, 28 de agosto de 1749 — Weimar, 22 de março de 1832) foi um polímata, autor e estadista alemão do Sacro Império Romano-Germânico que também fez incursões pelo campo da ciência natural. Another emotional factor in the poet’s childhood that may have affected his later development was a love-hate relationship with a younger brother, who died in 1759 at age six: Goethe’s later relationships with literary contemporaries were ambiguous, though he nonetheless described them as “brothers,” and he was repelled by literary and artistic representations of death. … Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (born August 28, 1749, Frankfurt am Main [Germany]—died March 22, 1832, Weimar, Saxe-Weimar), German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. Emeritus Schröder Professor of German, Magdalene College, Cambridge. After growing up in a privileged upper middle class family, he studied law in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768, although he was more interested in literature. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 28, 1749, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was tutored extensively in languages as a child. However, his writings—emotive, far-reaching, prophetic, and formal—stimulated generations of Western literature and thought. Goethe had in almost-finished form a biblical play and a moralistic novel when he entered the university, but, after reading them to his friends, he ostentatiously burned them as unworthy of his now advanced taste and started to write erotic verse and a pastoral drama, Die Laune des Verliebten (1806; “The Lover’s Spleen”; Eng. Johann Wolfgang Goethe wurde am 28. Omissions? Despite his success and influence as a poet, Goethe expressed that he took no pride in his literary accomplishments, and believed instead that his work as a philosopher and scientist—in particular his theories about color—would be his true legacy. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) was a German novelist, playwright, poet, and statesman who has been described as Germany’s William Shakespeare. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 28, 1749, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was tutored extensively in languages as a child. He also wrote some letters that are seen as beautiful, and that showed his promise as a writer. Goethe was educated with his sister at home by tutors until he was 16. In 1765, therefore, Goethe left home to study law in Leipzig. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." He studied law in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, playwright, novelist, and natural philosopher is best known for his two-part poetic drama Faust, (1808-1832) which he started around the age of twenty three and didn't finish till shortly before his death sixty years later. 1965). Poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe was the eldest of seven children, though only one other survived into adulthood, his sister Cornelia (1750–77), for whom he felt an intense affection of whose potentially incestuous nature he seems to have been aware. Goethe reveals himself in Goethe's Autobiography: Poetry and Truth from My Life (trans. “If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. In later years, Goethe expressed his disgust with the novel and the romantic genre out of which it emerged; however, its effect on Goethe's career and public image were undeniable. Goethe was fascinated by writers such as Homer and Ovid, and committed whole passages of these texts to heart. Author of. Learn how Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's failed love affairs inspired his works. Goethe’s mother, Catharina Elisabeth Textor (1731–1808), was one of the daughters of Frankfurt’s most senior official and was a lively woman closer in age to her son than to her husband. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe On this date in 1749, Germany's most famous poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was born in Frankfurt am Main, to a comfortable bourgeois family. When Goethe was a young boy, he began to write stories and plays for his friends. Berühmt ist auch Goethes Farbenlehre. German poet, dramatist and philosopher, was born at Frankfort-on-Main on the 28th of August 1749. Ralph Waldo Emerson, deeply influenced by Goethe's merging of science and art, called Goethe the "surpassing intellect of modern times," and said of his life: Goethe died in Weimar on March 22, 1832. The truth has been kept … He continued his studies in Strasbourg from 1770 to 1771. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), der größte deutsche Dichter und Denker, war ein Universalgenie. Goethe's love for poetry persisted through his legal training, and he anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems, in 1770. Throughout the 1770s, Goethe practiced a unique, progressive version of law across Germany, while maintaining a side career as an editor, playwright, and poet. An excellent introduction to Goethe the man is David Luke and Robert Pick, eds., Goethe: Conversations and Encounters (1966), a collection of writings by his contemporaries. Real Name: Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) was a German writer, poet, novelist, and playwright. Der »Dichterfürst« war zudem Staatsmann und beeinflusste die Kunst seiner Zeit. None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. Goethe's father, a lawyer, prioritized his son's education, enabling him to engage in many literary and cultural pursuits. His works include epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. Search more than 3,000 biographies of contemporary and classic poets. Johann Wolfgang Goethe was born on 28 August 1749 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany as son of a lawyer. Als Naturforscher kam er zu bedeutenden Erkenntnissen. The German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, scientist, and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) ranks among the greatest authors of Western literature. Historical studies should generally avoid the error of thinking that the circumstances of a philosopher’s life necessitate their theoretical conclusions. It sparked the phenomenon "Werther-Fieber" ("Werther Fever"), in which young men throughout Europe began dressing like the tragic protagonist, and brought Goethe to the court of Carl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, where he would become an important advisor. The Lover’s Caprice), begun in 1767. His father had very definite ideas about his education and intended that Goethe should follow the pattern he himself had pursued as a young man: studying law, gaining experience at the Reichskammergericht (the supreme court of the Holy Roman Empire) in Wetzlar, and eventually rounding off his worldly culture with a grand tour to Italy, after which he could marry and settle down, perhaps rising, as his father had not been able to do, to a position of responsibility in the city administration. Ihr Vater, ebenfalls Jurist, hielt als Schultheiß das höchste Amt im Frankf… Goethe's father, a lawyer, prioritized his son's education, enabling him to engage in many literary and cultural pursuits. One of the preeminent figures in German literature, poet, playwright, and novelist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1749. His lawyer father, Johann Caspar Goethe (1710-1782), and mother, Catharina Elisabeth Textor (1731-1808), were able to provide their first son a comfortable childhood and a good education. His father, Johann Caspar Goethe (1710–82), the son of a wealthy tailor-turned-innkeeper, was a man of leisure who lived on his inherited fortune and devoted himself, after studying law in Leipzig and Strasbourg and touring Italy, France, and the Low Countries, to collecting books and paintings and to the education of his children. In September 1786, after ten years in the Weimar civil service, when his fortieth … The epic poem-as-play has been adapted into an opera and is still performed throughout the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (born August 28, 1749, Frankfurt am Main [Germany]—died March 22, 1832, Weimar, Saxe-Weimar), German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. Reluctantly and with some delay, Goethe followed his father’s prescription, although he did not complete the final stages until some years after his father’s death. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Goethe was the eldest of seven children, though only one other survived into adulthood, his sister Cornelia (1750–77). Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s father, Johann Caspar Goethe (1710–82), was a man of leisure who lived on an inherited fortune. Goethe was one of the very few figures of Germany’s 18th-century literary renaissance who were, in the full sense of the term, bourgeois. His contributions to science include his work in botany and his Theory of Colours. His literary works include epic as well as lyric poetry which he wrote in different styles, dramas of diverse kinds as well as his autobiography. The book was an instant international success. Share with your friends. In the literary culture of the German-speaking countries, he has had so dominant a position that, since the end of the 18th century, his writings have been described as “classical.” In a European perspective he appears as the central and unsurpassed representative of the Romantic movement, broadly understood. © Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038. 223-24). Auch die Mutter kam aus wohlhabenden Verhältnissen. His Faust, though eminently stageworthy when suitably edited, is also Europe’s greatest long poem since John Milton’s Paradise Lost, if not since Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Randall Jarrell, who translated Faust from his Poet Laureate's office at the Library of Congress, called him his "own favorite daemon, dear good great Goethe." The nobility and the grand and petty sovereigns who figured so much in Goethe’s later life had no part in his early experiences: he was a town child from a rich family in an essentially middle-class world. Travel as Therapy. Throughout a long and full life he demonstrated his prolific genius in many different areas. Napolean Bonaparte called it one of the greatest works of European Literature.