(2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962 / Calw, Württemberg)

poet Hermann Hesse
#372 on top 500 poets
Hermann Hesse
Do you like this poet?
60 person liked.
3 person did not like.

Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known works include Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game (also known as Magister Ludi), each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality.

Biography

Family background

Hermann Hesse was born on 2 July 1877 in the Black Forest town of Calw in Württemberg, Germany. Both of Hesse's parents served in India at a mission under the auspices of the Basel Mission, a Protestant Christian missionary society. Hesse's mother, Marie Gundert, was born at such a mission in India in ... more »

Click here to add this poet to your My Favorite Poets.

Popular Poems

More poems of Hermann Hesse »

Quotations

more quotations »
  • ''To study history means submitting to chaos and nevertheless retaining faith in order and meaning. It is a very serious task, young man, and possibly a tragic one.''
    Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German novelist, poet. Father Jacobus, in The Glass Bead Game, ch. 4 (1943, trans. 1960).
    10 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • You treat world history as a mathematician does mathematics, in which nothing but laws and formulas exist, no reality, no good and evil, no time, no yesterday, no tomorrow, nothing but an eternal, sha...
    Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German novelist, poet. Father Jacobus, in The Glass Bead Game, ch. 4 (1943, trans. 1960).
    12 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • What I always hated and detested and cursed above all things was this contentment, this healthiness and comfort, this carefully preserved optimism of the middle classes, this fat and prosperous brood ...
    Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German novelist, poet. "For Madmen Only," Steppenwolf (1927).
    4 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • ''One never reaches home, but wherever friendly paths intersect the whole world looks like home for a time.''
    Hermann Hesse (1877-1962), German novelist, poet. Frau Eva, in Demian, ch. 5 (1960).
    10 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
Read more quotations »

Comments about Hermann Hesse

There is no comment submitted by members..
Click here to write your comments about Hermann Hesse

PoemHunter.com Updates

More classic poets:

The complete list »
[Hata Bildir]