Daniel Lessmann

Daniel Lessmann at the coffin of his bride

Daniel Lessmann, also: Leßmann ; (Born January 18, 1794 in Soldin ; † September 2, 1831 near Wittenberg ) was a German historian and poet .

Life

Born to Jewish parents, Lessmann attended the Joachimsthaler Gymnasium , studied medicine in Berlin and volunteered in the wars of liberation in 1813 . Founded by the hunters , he suffered a wound in Lützen , but took part in further fighting after his recovery. After the war he continued his studies, came to Vienna as court master , was in Verona in 1820 and returned to Berlin in 1823, where he worked as a freelance writer.

He wrote articles in the most important literary newspapers of the Restoration period , which described life in southern countries, produced historical essays, short stories and poems. The aspiring author, who was also in contact with Heinrich Heine , converted to Christianity in 1824 and fell into deep depression. On a trip on foot with a new manuscript from Berlin to Leipzig and Dresden in search of a publisher, he hanged himself on the way from Kropstädt to Wittenberg, where his body was found on September 2nd.

As a witty narrator and poet, he was recognized in literary circles, but he did not achieve financial success with his books. Melancholy, irony and satire increasingly shaped the work of a poet who was deeply disappointed in life.

Selection of works

Amathusia . Berlin 1824
Luise von Halling. In letters from southern Spain . 2 volumes. Berlin 1827; Reprint with an afterword v. Hartmut Vollmer. Stuttgart / Zurich 1991
Cisalpine Leaves, or Life, Education and Customs in Northern Italy . 2 volumes. Berlin 1828
Novellas . 4 volumes. Berlin 1828-1830
The traveling book of a melancholy . 2 volumes. Berlin 1831/32 (newly edited by Hermann Conradi 1885)
The Heidenmühle . 2 volumes. Berlin 1833
Estate . 3 volumes. Berlin 1837/38
Translation of Alessandro Manzoni's The Fiancés . 3 volumes. Berlin 1827
Translation of Giovanni Rosini's Nun of Monza . 2 volumes. Berlin 1830

literature

Constantin von Wurzbach : Lessmann, Daniel . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 15th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1866, p. 15 f. ( Digitized version ).
Ludwig Geiger : Lessmann, Daniel . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 18, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 453 f.
Hartmut Vollmer: Daniel Lessmann . In: Walther Killy (Ed.): Literaturlexikon. Authors and works in the German language , Volume 7. Bertelsmann-Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1990, p. 250 (CD-ROM: Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-932544-13-7 )

Web links

Commons : Daniel Lessmann - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Daniel Lessmann in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Max Ring: Jew and Poet. A memory of Daniel Lessmann . In: The Gazebo . Volume 3, 1866, pp. 37–39 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).

personal data
SURNAME	Lessmann, Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lessmann, Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German historian and poet
DATE OF BIRTH	January 18, 1794
PLACE OF BIRTH	Soldin
DATE OF DEATH	September 2, 1831
Place of death	Wittenberg

[1] Max Ring: Jew and Poet. A memory of Daniel Lessmann . In: The Gazebo . Volume 3, 1866, pp. 37–39 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).