Stifter, Adalbert

Stifter, Adalbert (ä`dälbĕrt shtĭf`tər), 1805–68, Austrian writer, b. Bohemia. Learned in law, mathematics, and science and accomplished as an artist, he was a tutor to important families and, later, a school inspector. His tales of the Bohemian Forest were widely read in his time and are still acclaimed for their sensitive descriptions of nature and of a simple and beautiful harmony between nature and man. Many of his tales were collected in Studien (6 vol., 1844–50). His late novels, Der Nachsommer (1857) and Witiko (3 vol., 1865–67), are considered diffuse.

Bibliography

See biography by M. Gump (1973).