Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann was born in Königsberg, East Prussia in 1776 and died in Berlin in 1822. Hoffman was considered one of the most important German writers of his time, and his writing was influenced by romanticism and combined elements of fantasy in it. He had spent his childhood separated from his father, which he regretted as an adult. Intense childhood experiences play a dominant role in his writing. Hoffman served was known also as a composer and a music critic. For his admiration of Mozart, he changed his middle name Wilhelm to Amadeus. Among his most famous literary works are The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816) and The Sandman (1816). Composer Jacques Offenbach composed an opera based on three of Hoffman’s books, and called the work “The Tales of Hoffmann.” Hoffman died of syphilis at the young age of forty-six.
