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Kleist, (Bernd) Heinrich (Wilhelm) von 1777-1811
German dramatist and poet

He was born in Frankfurt an der Oder. His family had a long military tradition, but he left the army in 1799 to study, and soon devoted himself to literature. His work is marked by a sometimes anguished struggle to come to terms with his doubts over man's ability to shape his own fate and destiny amid the political and personal upheavals of the age. His best plays are still popular, notably Prinz Friedrich von Homburg (1811, Eng trans The Prince of Homburg, 1959), and his finest tale is Michael Kohlhaas (1808-10). He committed suicide.

Bibliography: W Silz, Heinrich von Kleist (1961)