Dictionary.net

An eminent German novelist; born at Nordstetten, Wurtemberg, Feb. 28, 1812; died at Cannes, France, Feb. 8, 1882. He began to write while a student in Heidelberg, and under the pseudonym "Theobald Chauber" produced a "Biography of Frederick the Great" (1834-36). A series of novels from the history of Judaism, under the collective title "The Ghetto", of which "Spinoza" (1837) and "Poet and Merchant" (1839) were printed in separate editions, was followed by a translation of the works of Spinoza, with a critical biography (1841); and by "The Educated Citizen, a Book for the Thinking Human Mind" (1842), intended to bring philosophical problems within the comprehension of the uninitiated. His next work, "Black Forest Village Stories" (1843), was received with universal favor, translated into nearly all European languages, and established his fame. To this class of tales belong also "The Professor's Lady" (1847); "Little Barefoot" (1856); "Joseph in the Snow" (1860); "Edelweiss" (1861); "After Thirty Years", new village stories (1876). His first effort in the field of the novel, "New Life" (1851), met with little favor; but "On the Heights" (1865) constituted the crowning success of his literary career. It was followed by "The Villa on the Rhine" (1868); "Waldfried, a Family History" (1874); and "The Head Forester" (1879); "Brigitta" (1880).