Adelbert von Chamisso

Anthony Paul Grant (Edge Hill University)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 30 Jan 1781
Died 21 Aug 1838
Activity 1804-1838

Places

Born in France
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Poet

Other

Natural scientist

Resources

Chamisso's Works

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Adelbert von Chamisso, one of the most notable German Romantic writers, was born Louis-Charles-Adélaïde Chamisso de Boncourt, his first name in French sources usually spelt

Adalbert

, at Chateau Boncourt, Seine-et-Marne, Champagne, France, between 27 and 30 January 1781, and was baptised 31 January 1781. The lyrical poet, fiction writer, naturalist and scientist published his literary work in German. The family name reflected their ultimate Portuguese origin (the form

Chamusso

is still current there, and the name is also recorded as

Chamissot

). The family had the status of minor aristocrats in Lorraine hailing from a background which was commemorated in his poem “Das Schloss Boncourt” [“Chateau Boncourt”, 1827]; his mother, Marie Anne Gargam, came from a prosperous haut-bourgeois…

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2236 words

Citation: Grant, Anthony Paul. "Adelbert von Chamisso". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=813, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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