Georg Buchner, 1813–1837 – in 100 words

Buchner compressed several lifetimes’ worth of achievement into 23 years. By the time he died (of typhus), he was a university lecturer and he had written a ground-breaking dissertation On Cranial Nerves, the first revolutionary document in German history and two of the greatest plays ever written. Danton’s Death was written in five weeks, during Buchner’s flight into Switzerland from probable imprisonment. A gripping political drama, its insight into political intrigue is comparable to Shakespeare. Woyzeck, unfinished at Buchner’s death, has inspired many of the key innovators in Western theatre. Rarely has such astounding promise been so cruelly cut short.