Friedrich Nietzsche
Author · 149 books
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a German philosopher, classical philologist, and writer. Born in Röcken near Lützen, he studied in Bonn and Leipzig and was appointed professor of classical philology at the University of Basel in 1869. He left the post in 1879 because of ill health and devoted himself thereafter to philosophical and literary work. His best-known books include *The Birth of Tragedy* (1872), *Thus Spoke Zarathustra* (1883–1885), *Beyond Good and Evil* (1886), and *Ecce Homo* (1888). Nietzsche often wrote in an aphoristic and poetic style and developed influential critiques of morality, religion, and traditional philosophy. In 1889 he suffered a mental breakdown in Turin; his final years were spent under the care of his mother and sister. He died in Weimar.