Benedikt David Arnstein (15 October 1765 – 6 January 1841), also known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Arenhof, was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. He is considered the first

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-language

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

dramatist and poet.

Biography

Benedikt Arnstein was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

into a prominent

banking family, the son of wholesaler David Isaak Arnstein. His grandfather was the prominent banker Adam Isaac von Arnstein (son of ), and his aunt the

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

Fanny von Arnstein Baroness Franziska "Fanny" von Arnstein (29 September 1758 – 8 June 1818), born Vögele Itzig, was a Viennese socialite and salonnière and a supporter of both Mozart and Beethoven. Biography Fanny Arnstein was born in Berlin, the daughter of ...

. He began working at his grandfather's banking house in 1782, but left in 1786 to undertake a series of travels across Germany, France, Spain and Italy. This enabled him to become personally acquainted with many distinguished writers of his time, including and , who introduced him to classical

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Roman literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literatur ...

. His literary circle included , Joseph Schreyvogel,

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

, , and . Apart from individual poems, which appeared in monographs and almanacs, Arnstein published numerous dramatic works, some of which were performed at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

in Vienna. His 1782 work ''Einige jüdische Familienscenen'' celebrated the Edict of Tolerance of

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

Publications

* * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnstein, Benedikt David 1765 births 1840 deaths 18th-century Austrian poets 18th-century dramatists and playwrights 18th-century Austrian Jews Dramatists and playwrights from the Austrian Empire 19th-century Austrian Jews 19th-century Austrian poets Austrian male dramatists and playwrights Austrian male poets Jewish Austrian writers Jewish dramatists and playwrights Jewish poets Jews and Judaism in Vienna Writers from Vienna