JACOB GRIMM
German author (1785-1863)
Biography:
Jacob Grimm was born in Hanau in 1785. His childhood was quite difficult since, being both his parents dead, he has to take care of his five brothers and sisters. He studied at Marbourg and Paris, where he worked for Public Administration. In 1814 and 1815 he went back to Paris to collect the books taken by Napoleon. He took part in Vienna Congress of 1816. In 1829 he is given a job at Gottingen Library, but for political reasons he is sacked. For four years he lives in Kassel with his brother Wilhelm Grimm and they are nominated by the Science Academy of Berlin. In 1848 he was elected for the First German Parliament.
Jacob Grimm was a very prolific writer, not only of fairytales, but also of linguistic treaties and theoretical books. Über den Altedetschen Meistergesang (1811) was a compillation of German legends and poems. Childrens' and Household Tales (with Wilhelm Grimm) was written between 1812 and 1815 and later published in two volumes (1822, 1857), where we can read his Snow White and Hansel and Gretel. Jocob Grimm also wrote a grammar book called Deutsche Grammatik (1819-1837) and a book about German Mythology in 1835. In 1848 he published a History of German Language and a German Dictionary (1852-1858). Posthumously, two compilation of fairytales were published under the title of Grimms' Tales for Young and Old, 1977 (translated by Ralph Manheim) and Grimms' Fairy Tales. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, 1987 .
Jacob Grimm has been considered the founder of German History and will always be remembered as the best representative of his historical method applied to literary studies. To the brothers, folktales expressed the eternal joys, sorrows, hopes, and dreams of humankind. Their methods became a model for the scientific collection of folk songs and folktales, and made major contributions to the historical study of language. In this sense, their work can be compared to Asbjornsen's and Moe's contribution to Norwegian culture.
Among his most famous fairy tales for children, there are Snow-white, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Grethel, Rumpelstiltskin, Mother Hulda, The Bremen Town Musicians, Aschenputtel (also called Cinderella), The Fisherman and His Wife, The Brave Little Tailor, The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids, Rupunzel, The Robber Bridegroom, The Almond Tree and The Sleeping Beauty.
Jacob Grimm was buried in Berlin in 1863.
Jacob Grimm, author of illustrated works:
Grimm Brothers, German Folktales. Carbondale: U. of Southern Illinois, 1969
Hansel et Gretel, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger, Casterman, 1990
The Bremen Town Musicians, illustrated by Bernadette, North-South Books, 1997