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Adelbert von Chamisso was born French with the
name Vicomte de Chamisso and baptized Louis Charles Adélaïde.
A nobleman, he fled France during the French Revolution
at the age of 9 and spent the rest of his life in Prussia
where he took the name Adelbert. The razing of his family's
chateau, Boncourt, became the subject of his poem Das
Schloß Boncourt. In 1796 he became a page to
Queen Friederike Luise of Prussia; and two years later
he was commissioned as an ensign in the Prussian army.
Chamisso became a poet during his army years and was
heavily influenced by the Romantic movement. He mainly
wrote poetry, but also wrote ballads and stories; amongst
the short stories was Peter Schlemihls wundersame
Geschichte in which Peter Schemihl sells his shadow
to the devil. This work influenced such authors as ETA
Hoffmann who, in his work Abenteur der Silvesternacht, includes
the character Peter Schemihl. Also influenced
by Chamisso was Hans Christian Andersen in the story The
Shadow. He was joint editor of Deutscher Musenalmanach until
his death in 1838.
In May and June 1831 Hans Christian Andersen went to
Prussia in what is today Germany. During that trip he
established a pattern that he was to follow for years:
he looked up the famous authors: he met both Ludwig
Tieck and Adelbert Chamisso.
S. Mellor |
