Chamisso, Adelbert von
Chamisso, Adelbert von (1781–1838),German author, poet, and botanist. His family fled France during the French Revolution and settled in Berlin in 1796, where he became page to the Prussian queen and then an officer in the Prussian army, participating in the ill‐fated campaign against Napoleon in 1806. After studying botany in Berlin, he took part in a voyage around the world (1815–18), and subsequently received an appointment at the Botanical Garden in Berlin. He was much admired for his lyric poetry and ballads, but is best remembered for his tale Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte (Peter Schlemihl's Amazing Story, 1814), a minor classic of world literature widely read and translated in the 19th century. The story concerns a young man's encounters with the devil, who bargains with him first for his shadow and then, as in the Faust legend and subsequent literary versions of it, for his soul. Unlucky in love because...
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