Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and statesman. Born in Frankfurt in 1749, Goethe's body of work is extensive, including, aside from his poetry and four novels, over 10,000 letters and nearly 3,000 drawings.

Goethe was an avid botanist, anatomist and was once a law student. He was made a nobleman in 1782 after the success of his first novel. During his lifetime, Goethe sat on the Duke's privy council and was responsible for the reopening of silver mines in Ilmenau and several administrative reforms in the nearby University of Jena.

Goethe was one of the goliaths of writing in German culture. All through a long and full life he exhibited his productive virtuoso in a wide range of zones. Goethe formed abstract works and built up creative rule that impacted his counterparts all through Europe, and which are still looked to as models. The position he holds in the improvement of German writing resembles what Shakespeare has in most English-speaking nations.

In 1806, Goethe married Christiane Vulpius, who had been his mistress for year and with whom he already had a son.

Some of Goethe's most important works include, "Gotz von Berlichingen", a tragedy based on the historical account of the poet Gottfried, "The Sorrows of Young Werther", an autobiographical novel and "Faust" a play about a scholar who makes a deal with the devil in order to sample immortality and life's greatest pleasures.

By the time he died of heart failure in 1832, Goethe was a very respected, influential writer in German literature. His novels and plays made a great impact on German writers of his time and continue to make an impact even today.