Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries)

Early Life

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born into a financially well-established family in the cosmopolitan city of Frankfurt am Main. His father, Johann, was a serious man, who retired from his law practice early and devoted himself to the education of his children. His mother, Katharine Elisabeth, was of a more lighthearted nature and stimulated the imaginative and artistic faculties of her children. From 1765 to 1768, Goethe studied law (at his father’s request) at the University of Leipzig. In August, 1768, he became gravely ill with a lung ailment and returned to...

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