Heinrich von Kleist

Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) was a poet, dramatist, novelist, and a short story writer. He was the first of the great 19th-century German dramatists and lived in the Kingdom of Prussia of the Holy Roman Empire. His work was during the Romanticism literary movement. After serving in the Prussian army for seven year his life …

Ainsworth & bad guys

English bad guys come in all flavors in the Victorian era William Harrison Ainsworth (1805-1882) was an English historical novelist born. As a lawyer, the legal profession held no attraction for him. In 1820, Ainsworth began to publish his writing then later writing plays. Praising Ainsworth as a playwright it was said that he rivaled …

E. T. A. Hoffmann

E. T. A. Hoffmann, (1776-1822) born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was a German author of fantasy and Gothic horror. He was also a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Hoffmann is one of the major creators of the Romantic movement. Jacques Offenbach His stories were the basis of the famous opéra fantastique by Jacques Offenbach, …

Nat Love

Nat Love (1854-1921) was a slave born on Robert Love’s Tennessee plantation. After the civil war ended and the slaves were freed his parents became sharecroppers. His father Sampson died shortly after and Nat took a job at a local farm to help breaking horses. Westward Eventually Nat traveled to Dodge City, Kansas where he …

Hryhorii Skovoroda

Ukraine philosopher, poet, teacher In Ukraine the name Hryhorii Skovoroda is synonymous with freedom. Hryhorii Skovoroda (1722-1794) was a great Ukrainian philosopher, poet and teacher. He was the founder of landscape lyrics, a genre of poetry representing the author’s attitude toward nature. Skovoroda added to the contributions of ancient Greek philosophers’ works on local culture and …