Luise Adelgunde Victorie Gottsched (born Kulmus, 11 April 1713 – 26 June 1762) was a German poet,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, essayist, and translator, and is often considered one of the founders of modern German

theatrical comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy ending ...

Biography

She was born in Danzig (

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

), Royal Prussia ( Crown of Poland). During her lifetime, she was considered one of Europe's leading intellects and one of the most intelligent women of the time. She became acquainted with her husband, the poet and author Johann Christoph Gottsched, when she sent him some of her own works. He apparently was impressed, and a long correspondence eventually led to marriage. After marriage, Luise continued to write and publish, and was also her husband's faithful helper in his literary labours. Her uncle was the anatomist

Johann Adam Kulmus Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

Works

She wrote several popular comedies, of which ''Das Testament'' is the best, and translated '' The Spectator'' (9 volumes, 1739–1743), Alexander Pope's '' Rape of the Lock'' (1744) and other English and French works. After her death her husband edited her ''Sämtliche kleinere Gedichte'' with a memoir (1763).

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gottsched, Luise 1713 births 1762 deaths 18th-century German writers 18th-century German women writers 18th-century German women Writers from Gdańsk People from Royal Prussia Translators to German 18th-century German translators