Christian August Vulpius

Christian August Vulpius

Christian August Vulpius (23 January 1762 – 25 June 1827) was a German novelist and dramatist. His sister married the noted German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Biography

He was born at Weimar, and was educated at Jena and Erlangen. In 1790, he returned to Weimar, where Goethe obtained employment for him. Here, since 1788, Goethe had been contentedly living quasi-maritally with Vulpius's sister Christiane.

In Weimar, Vulpius began, in imitation of Christian Heinrich Spiess, to write a series of romantic narratives: operas, dramas and tales. Of these (about sixty in number), his Rinaldo Rinaldini, the Robber Captain (1797), is the most notorious. A typical “penny dreadful” of the period, it was often translated and much imitated, but unrivaled in its bad eminence. Its scene was laid in Italy during the Middle Ages. Vulpius was also active as an editor.

In 1797, possibly through Goethe's influence, Vulpius obtained employment at the Weimar library, of which he became chief librarian in 1806. In the latter year, Goethe also formally married Christiane. Christian died at Weimar on the 25th of June 1827.

Legacy

There are two movies based on Vulpius' most renowned penny-dread:

• Rinaldo Rinaldini (film, 1927)[1]
• Rinaldo Rinaldini, der Räuberhauptmann (TV-series with 13 episodes produced in 1968).

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Vulpius, Christian August". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
•  "Vulpius, Christian August". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
•  "Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von". New International Encyclopedia. 1906. 

External links

Biography portal

• Christian August Vulpius at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Vulpius
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 23, 1762
Place of birth
Date of death	June 25, 1827
Place of death