Heinrich Landesmann
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Landesmann, Hieronymus Lorm (August 9, 1821, Nikolsburg
- December 4, 1902, at Brno
) was an Austrian poet
and philosophical writer.
From his earliest childhood he was very sickly
; at the age of fifteen his sight
and hearing
were almost completely destroyed; and later in life he became totally blind
. He developed a form of tactile signing
that was named after him.
When but sixteen years old he contributed a number of poems to various periodicals. In 1843 he completed his first important literary production, Abdul, the Mohammedan
Faust
legend
, in five canto
s (2nd ed. Berlin, 1852).
His Wien's Poetische Schwingen und Federn (Vienna
, 1847) manifested critical acumen, but also a tinge of political acerbity in its attack on the censor system of the Austrian chancellor Prince Metternich. His friends advised Landesmann to leave Vienna, and he went to Berlin
, where he assumed the pseudonym
Hieronymus Lorm in order to secure his family from possible trouble with the Viennese police. In Berlin he became a regular contributor to Kühne's Europa. After the revolution of 1848 he returned to Vienna. In 1856 he married; in 1873 he removed to Dresden
; and in 1892 he settled in Brünn. A sister of Landesmann's was the second wife of Berthold Auerbach
. Landesmann was distinctively a lyric poet. The peculiar vein of pessimism
that runs through both his poetry and his prose writings has won for him the title of the "lyrical Schopenhauer".
Mikulov
Mikulov is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 7,608 . It is located directly on the border with Lower Austria. Mikulov is located at the edge of a hilly area and the three Nové Mlýny reservoirs...
- December 4, 1902, at Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
) was an Austrian poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and philosophical writer.
From his earliest childhood he was very sickly
Illness
Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
; at the age of fifteen his sight
Visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye. The resulting perception is also known as eyesight, sight, or vision...
and hearing
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
were almost completely destroyed; and later in life he became totally blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
. He developed a form of tactile signing
Tactile signing
Tactile signing is a common means of communication used by people with both a sight and hearing impairment , which is based on a standard system of Deaf manual signs.-Kinds of tactile signing:...
that was named after him.
When but sixteen years old he contributed a number of poems to various periodicals. In 1843 he completed his first important literary production, Abdul, the Mohammedan
Mohammedan
Mohammedan is a Western term for a follower of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As an archaic English language term, it is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhammad or the religion, doctrines, institutions and practices that he established...
Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, in five canto
Canto
The canto is a principal form of division in a long poem, especially the epic. The word comes from Italian, meaning "song" or singing. Famous examples of epic poetry which employ the canto division are Lord Byron's Don Juan, Valmiki's Ramayana , Dante's The Divine Comedy , and Ezra Pound's The...
s (2nd ed. Berlin, 1852).
His Wien's Poetische Schwingen und Federn (Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, 1847) manifested critical acumen, but also a tinge of political acerbity in its attack on the censor system of the Austrian chancellor Prince Metternich. His friends advised Landesmann to leave Vienna, and he went to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he assumed the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Hieronymus Lorm in order to secure his family from possible trouble with the Viennese police. In Berlin he became a regular contributor to Kühne's Europa. After the revolution of 1848 he returned to Vienna. In 1856 he married; in 1873 he removed to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
; and in 1892 he settled in Brünn. A sister of Landesmann's was the second wife of Berthold Auerbach
Berthold Auerbach
Berthold Auerbach was a German-Jewish poet and author. He was the founder of the German “tendency novel,” in which fiction is used as a means of influencing public opinion on social, political, moral, and religious questions.-Biography:Moses Baruch Auerbach was born in Nordstetten in the Kingdom...
. Landesmann was distinctively a lyric poet. The peculiar vein of pessimism
Pessimism
Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus , is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?"...
that runs through both his poetry and his prose writings has won for him the title of the "lyrical Schopenhauer".
Works
His more important works are:- Ein Zögling des Jahres 1848
his first novelNovelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
(3 vols., Vienna, 1855; 3d ed., 1863, under the title Gabriel Solmar), in which he treats, among other subjects, of the struggle of the modern Jew against the prejudices of his fellow citizens. - Am Kamin (2 vols., Berlin, 1856)
- Erzählungen des Heimgekehrten (Prague, 1858)
- Intimes Leben (ib. 1860)
- NovellenNovellenNovellen , opus 146, is the name of a waltz composed by Johann Strauss II. The composition was dedicated to the law students of the Vienna University on the occasion of their ball held at the Sofienbad-Saal in Vienna on January 31, 1854. The work reflects Strauss's fascination for the...
(2 vols., Vienna, 1864) - Gedichte (Hamburg, 1870; 7th ed., 1894)
- Philosophisch-Kritische Streifzüge (Berlin, 1873)
- Geflügelte Stunden. Leben, Kritik, Dichtung (3 vols., Leipzig, 1875)
- the dramas Das Forsthaus, Hieronymus Napoleon, and Die Alten und die Jungen (1875)
- Der Naturgenuss. Eine Philosophie der Jahreszeiten (Berlin, 1876)
- Neue Gedichte (Dresden, 1877)
- Todte Schuld (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1878)
- Späte Vergeltung (2 vols., Hamburg, 1879)
- Der Ehrliche Name (2 vols., Dresden, 1880)
- Wanderer's Ruhebank (Leipzig, 1881)
- Ausserhalb der Gesellschaft (ib. 1881)
- Der Abend zu Hause (Breslau, 1881)
- Ein Schatten aus Vergangenen Tagen (Stuttgart, 1882)
- Ein Kind des Meeres (Dresden, 1882)
- Der Fahrende Geselle (Leipzig, 1884)
- Vor dem Attentat (Dresden, 1884)
- Natur und Geist im Verhältnis zu den Kulturepochen (Teschen, 1884)
- Die Schöne Wienerin (Jena, 1886)
- Das Leben Kein Traum (Breslau, 1887)
- Auf dem Einsamen Schlosse (1887)
- Die Muse des Glücks und Moderne Einsamkeit (Dresden, 1893)
- Der Grundlose Optimismus (Vienna, 1894)