German writer, composer, and painter E. T. A. Hoffmann.

E.T.A. Hoffmann

(1776 - 1822)

Born in Königsberg, Prussia, in 1776, E.T.A. Hoffmann composed the ballet Arlequin in 1811, published the stories Fantasy Pieces in the Style of Callot in four volumes between 1814 and 1815, and saw his opera Undine performed in 1816. That same year, he became a councillor in the Berlin Court of Appeals. His last story collection, The Serapion Brethren, was published between 1819 and 1821, achieving popularity in France, England, and the United States. He wrote two novels and over fifty stories but never earned a stable living as a writer; he spent the last six years of his life in government service as a judge.

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