Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke, but better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was born in Prague, then the capital of Bohemia and itself part of the Austro-Hungarian empire on 4th December 1875. 

His mother treated Rilke for much of his early years as the daughter she had previously lost, even going so far as to dress him in girls clothing.

Rilke, initially pressured into attending a military school would however grow up to become a widely admired poet and writer. The intensity of his lyrics help to describe and reveal many of the troubles of the times in a different way to others of his generation. His work is religious, mystical and has helped influence generations of later writers.

Whilst his contribution to German literature is obvious he also wrote some 400 poems in French. He travelled widely in Europe and eventually settled in Switzerland in 1919 to escape the post-war chaos and to concentrate on completing his sonnet cycles.

During his life his health frequently failed and he became prone to bouts of heavy depression, mainly due to his conscripted wartime experiences though he didn’t serve on the frontline

Rainer Maria Rilke died from leukaemia on 29th December 1926 at the age of 51 in Montreux, Vaud, Switzerland.

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