Clemens Brentano
Poet
German Romantic poet and author remembered for Romanzen vom Rosenkranz (poems) and Geschichte vom braven Kasperl und dem schönen Annerl (short stories). He also collaborated with his brother-in-law on a collected folk songs volume entitled Des Knaben Wunderhorn.
He was born in Ehrenbreitstein, Germany to a family of half-Italian descent.
He became heavily involved in Catholicism beginning in 1818 and lived for a few years in a monastery. There, he served as secretary to a radically devout nun who lived entirely on holy water and bread.
He married fellow writer Sophie Mereau in October of 1803. His sister, Bettina von Arnim, was also a writer.
His literary work is alluded to in Doctor Faustus, a novel by Thomas Mann.