Friedrich Schiller, German poet, 1759-1805

Friedrich Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life, he struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany’s most important classical playwright.