Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – German poet and thinker of the Enlightenment and Romanticism; Faust, The Sorrows of Young Werther; a cultural icon of Europe. Trained in law, Weimar statesman, and natural scientist. Advocated the concept of “world literature”, influenced theatre, philosophy, and science. His works inspired music, painting, and film.
📖 Werther was banned in places due to the “Werther effect” – a rise in suicides after its release. 🎭 Directed the Weimar theatre for over 25 years, elevating it to national prominence. 🧪 As a scientist, he identified the human intermaxillary bone and disputed Newton’s optics. 📚 Fascinated by Persian poetry – his West–Eastern Divan was inspired by Hafez. 🏛️ Coined and promoted the concept of Weltliteratur – global literary exchange. 💔 His romantic attachments often fuelled new works. 🎶 Composers like Schubert, Gounod, and Tchaikovsky set his texts to music. 📜 His correspondence with Schiller is a monument of German intellectual friendship. 🌋 His Italian journey was transformative – he called it a “second birth” as an artist. 🖼️ Collected art and supported architecture and painting. 👓 Worked on Faust for over 60 years, completing it shortly before his death. 📔 Kept detailed travel diaries, pioneering the genre. 🧐 Curious: insisted on certain room colours to be able to write. 😄 Funny: adored ice cream, calling it “a divine remedy against melancholy.”