Gottfried Keller

Gottfried Keller (1819–1890) was a Swiss poet and politician and a major representative of bourgeois realism. Born in Zurich, he initially trained as a landscape and veduta painter and spent time studying in Munich. After periods of study in Heidelberg and Berlin, he turned fully to literature. His best-known works include the autobiographically influenced novel *Green Henry*, the novella collection *The People of Seldwyla*, *Zurich Novellas*, *The Sinngedicht*, and *Seven Legends*. From 1861 to 1876, Keller served as First State Secretary of the Canton of Zurich; he then worked as a freelance writer. His novellas *Romeo and Juliet in the Village* and *Clothes Make the Man* are considered classics of German-language literature.