Franz Grillparzer

Franz Grillparzer
Portrait of Franz Grillparzer, by Moritz Michael Daffinger, 1827
Born	15 January 1791 (1791-01-15) Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	21 January 1872 (1872-01-22) (aged 81) Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Resting place	Hietzing Cemetery
Occupation	Dramatist
Language	Austrian German
Nationality	Austrian
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Period	1817 – 1872
Notable works	Sappho Family Strife in Hapsburg The Golden Fleece Blanche of Castile King Ottocar, His Rise and Fall The Ancestress Libussa The Waves of Sea and Love A Dream is Life The Jewess of Toledo
Signature

Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the famous Burgtheater in Vienna.^[1] He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral,^[2] as well as the epitaph for his friend Franz Schubert.

While writing during the period of Romanticism, Grillparzer's poetic language owes far more to the period of Classicism which reigned during his formative years. Committed to the classical ideals of aesthetic beauty and morality, his plots shy away from the realism which developed during his time, preferring instead to use the theater to address spiritual values, which in the words of the dying queen of his Libussa, would only come after the period of Materialism had passed. Due to the identity-creating use of his works, especially after World War II, he was named as the national poet of Austria.^[3]