Friedrich Nietzsche

15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher, philologist, and cultural critic whose writings on morality, religion, and the human condition profoundly shaped modern thought. Works such as 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' and 'Beyond Good and Evil' introduced ideas including the will to power, the Übermensch, and the death of God. His productive career ended with a mental collapse in 1889, eleven years before his death.

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Life events

Born in Röcken, Prussian Saxony
15 October 1844

Born in the village of Röcken near Lützen, the son of a Lutheran pastor who died when Friedrich was four.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Educated at the elite Schulpforta boarding school
1858 – 1864

Received a rigorous classical education at Pforta, excelling in Greek and Latin.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studied classical philology at Bonn and Leipzig
1864 – 1869

Studied under the philologist Friedrich Ritschl and discovered Schopenhauer's philosophy in Leipzig.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Appointed professor of classical philology at Basel at age 24
1869

Became one of the youngest professors ever appointed to a chair of classical philology, at the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published 'The Birth of Tragedy'
1872

His first book, influenced by Schopenhauer and his friendship with Richard Wagner, reinterpreted Greek tragedy through the Apollonian and Dionysian.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Resigned his Basel professorship due to ill health
1879

Chronic illness forced him to retire on a pension in 1879, beginning a decade of itinerant life across Switzerland, Italy, and France.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Wrote 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'
1883 – 1885

Composed his most famous work in four parts between 1883 and 1885, introducing the figure of the Übermensch.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published 'Beyond Good and Evil' and 'On the Genealogy of Morality'
1886 – 1887

In his mature period he produced his major critiques of morality, publishing these works in 1886 and 1887.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Suffered a mental collapse in Turin
3 January 1889

Broke down in Turin in early January 1889 and never recovered his sanity, spending his final years in the care of his mother and sister.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Weimar
25 August 1900

Died at age 55 in Weimar after years of incapacity, probably following strokes and pneumonia.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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