Dictionary.net

A German writer of fiction and autobiography; born in Grund, Westphalia, Sept. 12, 1740; died at Karlsruhe, April 2, 1817. He was of very humble origin, reared in a narrow and simply pious environment, and sent out into the world for a livelihood; but his eager mind turned thirstily to study, and he worked his way to learning. The novels with which he began his literary career, "The Story of Florentin von Fahlendorn", "The Story of the Lord of Morgenthau", and others, are chronicles of his career at various stages; but he worked the field at its richest in the series of "Stilling" autobiographies, "Heinrich Stilling's Youth", "Heinrich Stilling's Wanderings", and the prolific cycle of their successors. The author recounts the incidents and the experiences of his life in these nominal fictions with a realistic power that has seldom been surpassed.