Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet and literary sponsor, 1719-1803

Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, who came from a humble background, grew to become one of the best-known poets, literary patrons and collectors of the German Enlightenment. Gleim achieved overwhelming literary successes with his anacreontic and patriotic poems. He was one of the principal authors of his time, who, even in his later years, cannot be ignored from the almanac and anthology literature and whose poems inspired composers of lieder well into the 19th century. As a literary sponsor and an important exponent of the friendship culture at the end of the 18th century, he was also known as "Father Gleim".