Friedrich Maximilian Klinger

Friedrich Maximilian Klinger (1752-1831) is a Poète and German Dramaturge . He was born with Francfort-sur-le-Main (Germany) on February 17th, 1752 and died with Saint-Petersbourg on February 25th, 1831.

Of a modest family, it very early remained orphan; but it was characterized by its intelligence and, helped by benefactors, started to study the right. However, it felt attracted by the theater. In 1774, he wrote his first tragedy, Otto , followed soon the suffering Woman , the Twins , the News Arria , Simonse Grisaldo . But the work which was worth its fame to him is the tragedy Sturm und Drang, which was to give its title to a whole literary movement.

In 1776, Klinger spent some time to Weimar to live close to Goethe; but it was scrambled with this one, and is linked then, as playwright, with the troop of Seyler. In 1778 however, he embraced the military career. Two years later, it passed to the service of Russia and was named aide-de-camp of the Paul gran-duke. Its military virtues were worth a rapid career to him: in 1798, he was general, Principal of the Juniors, curator of the University of Dorpat, and was very in addition well seen at the Court. He had continued in the interval to write tragedies, but for the Russian period, the best of its production was consisted its novels, of which Vie, exploits and descent into Hell of Faust. In 1790, he married a Russian of which he had three children; two mourûrent precociously, the third, officer also, died to him following an amputation of the foot, made necessary by a wound which it had received at the time of the Bataille of Moskowa. Klinger was deeply reached by it; he did not write anything any more, and little by little gave up all his loads, however joining again by correspondence his friendship with Goethe. But he was from now on a finished man, not having more anything to say.

Its most outstanding works are:

the Twins (Zwillinge) , written in 1775;
Storm and passion (Sturm und Drang) , written in 1777 and whose German title gave its name to the German romantic movement;
Life, exploits and descent into Hell of Faust (Fausts Leben, Thaten und Höllenfahrt) , novel writes in 1791 and which is considered, with the Faust of Marlowe and Goethe like a masterpiece in this field.

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