Heinrich Leuthold (9 August 1827–1 July 1879) was a Swiss poet and translator, described by one critic as the writer "most endowed with genius" of the Munich literary circle, ''

Die Krokodile ''Die Krokodile'' ('The Crocodiles') was a small poets' society in Munich which existed from 1856 to the 1870s. Background and beginnings King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig I had constructed the Glyptothek and the Alte Pinakothek, Pinakothek to ho ...

''.John George Robertson, Edna Purdie. ''A history of German literature, Part 1.'' British Book Centre, 1966. Page 490. He was born in

Wetzikon Wetzikon is a small town in the Zürcher Oberland, Zurich Highlands (Zürcher Oberland) area of Switzerland, in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich. Geography The Municipal ...

. He studied law at

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

before moving to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1857, where he joined the poets' society, ''

''. His extremely critical manner is said to have alienated

Paul Heyse Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse (; 15 March 1830 – 2 April 1914) was a German writer and translator. A member of two important literary societies, the '' Tunnel über der Spree'' in Berlin and '' Die Krokodile'' in Munich, he wrote novels, poetry ...

. From 1860 he worked as an editor at the ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

'', and travelled around Germany for the next few years. In 1862, he published, with Emanuel Geibel, ''Fünf Bücher französischer Lyrik'', a substantial set of volumes containing translations from the French; and in 1868 he wrote an epic, ''Penthesilea''. In July 1877 he entered the

Burghölzli Burghölzli, named after the wooded hill in the district of Riesbach in southeastern Zürich where it is located, is the ''Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich'' ('Psychiatric University Hospital Zürich'), a psychiatric hospital in Switzerl ...

asylum, supposedly after being rejected as a suitor by the granddaughter of

Wilhelm von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt (22 June 1767 – 8 April 1835) was a German philosopher, linguist, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1949, the university was named aft ...

,Jethro Bithell. ''An Anthropology of German Poetry, 1830-1880.'' Rinehart and Co, New York. Page lxxxviii. and he died there two years later, shortly after seeing the publication of ''Gedichte'' (1879), a volume of original poetry. Thirty-two of his poems were set in 1944 by

Othmar Schoeck Othmar Schoeck (1 September 1886 – 8 March 1957) was a Swiss List of Romantic-era composers, Romantic classical composer, opera composer, musician, and Conductor (music), conductor. He was known mainly for his considerable output of lied, art ...

as ''Spielmannsweisen'', op. 56, and ''Der Sänger'', op. 57.

Notes

Bibliography

*Biographical note in: Alexander Tille, ed. ''German Songs of Today.'' Macmillan, London, 1896. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leuthold, Heinrich 1827 births 1879 deaths People from Wetzikon Swiss male poets English–German translators French–German translators 19th-century translators 19th-century Swiss poets Swiss poets in German 19th-century Swiss male writers