Gustav Schwab

For people with a similar name, seeGustav Schwalbe (disambiguation).

Gustav Schwab

Gustav Benjamin Schwab(19 June 1792 – 4 November 1850) was a German writer, pastor and publisher.

Life

Gustav Schwab was born inStuttgart,the son of the philosopherJohann Christoph Schwab.He was introduced to the humanities early in life. After attendingGymnasium Illustre,he studied as a scholar ofTübinger StiftatUniversity of Tübingen,his first two years studying Philology and Philosophy, and thereafter Theology. While at university he established a literary club and became a close friend ofLudwig Uhland,Karl VarnhagenandJustinus Kerner,with whom he published a collection of poems under the titleDeutscher Dichterwald.

In the spring of 1813, he made a journey to northern Germany, where he metJohann Wolfgang von Goethe,Friedrich Schleiermacher,Friedrich Rückert,Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué,Adelbert von Chamissoand others. In 1818 he became a high school teacher inStuttgart,and in 1837 he started work as a pastor inGomaringen,nearTübingen.In 1841, he moved back to Stuttgart, where he was first pastor and then from 1845 educational counselor for Stuttgart's high school system. In 1847 he received an honorary Doctorate from his old university.

Schwab's collection ofmythsandlegendsofantiquity,Sagen des klassischen Altertums,published from 1838 to 1840, was widely used at German schools and became very influential for the reception of classical antiquity in German classrooms. There is a still available English translation with a foreword byWerner Jaeger.

In his later years, he traveled regularly toÜberlingen am Bodenseeto enjoy the waters at the city's spa.He died in Stuttgart in 1850.

Works

• Gedichte(1828)
• Das Buch der schönsten Geschichten und Sagen(1837)
• Sagen des klassischen Altertums(1838–1840)
  • Gods and Heroes: Myths and Epics of Ancient Greece(ISBN9780394734026)

External links

• Media related toGustav Schwabat Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or about Gustav SchwabatInternet Archive
• Works by Gustav SchwabatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• gutenberg.spiegel.de(in German)