Born in 1759 in Marbach am Neckar, Schiller was educated at the Karlsschule — a rigorous military academy established by Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg — where he studied law and medicine. During these years, he began writing poetry and drama, developing an early interest in the relationship between individual freedom and political authority.
The Robbers (1781) — a passionate exploration of authority, freedom and rebellion — was Schiller’s first major play. Its success established him as a significant new voice in German literature and, in the following years, Schiller built his career as a writer, historian and academic. He was appointed professor of history at the University of Jena in 1789, where he produced important historical works while continuing to develop his literary career. His encounter with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1794 marked the beginning of one of the most influential friendships in German cultural history — together, they became leading figures of the Weimar Classicism movement.
Schiller’s later dramas — including Wallenstein (1799), Mary Stuart (1800) and William Tell (1804) — combined historical subjects with questions of moral responsibility and human freedom. His philosophical writings, particularly his Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), examined the transformative power of art and beauty, while his Ode to Joy (1785) celebrated freedom and unity. Schiller died in Weimar in 1805, aged 45.
SCHILLER, Friedrich von (1759-1805)
Oeuvres dramatiques . Paris : Ladvocat, 1821.