Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819–92) was a German writer, translator, and scholar known for his poetry, Oriental studies, and literary translations, particularly of Persian and Russian literature.
Born in Peine, Kingdom of Hanover, Bodenstedt trained as a merchant before studying in Göttingen, Munich, and Berlin. In 1841, he moved to Moscow as a tutor for Prince Gallitzin, deepening his knowledge of Russian literature. Later, as head of a school in Tiflis (modern Georgia,) he studied Persian poetry.
His most famous work, Die Lieder des Mirza Schaffy (1851, The Songs of Mirza Schaffy,) was inspired by Persian and Azerbaijani literature and achieved immense success. Other notable publications include Tausend und ein Tag im Orient (1850, One Thousand and One Days in the Orient,) recounting his travels, and Die Völker des Kaukasus und ihre Freiheits-Kämpfe gegen die Russen (1848, The Peoples of the Caucasus and Their Struggles for Freedom Against the Russians,) exploring Caucasian resistance movements.
Bodenstedt later became a professor of Slavic languages at the University of Munich (1854,) translating works by Pushkin, Lermontov, and Turgenev. He also contributed to Shakespearean studies, publishing Shakespeares Zeitgenossen und ihre Werke (1858–60, Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and Their Work.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Friedrich von Bodenstedt
To banish cares, scare away sorrow and soothe pain is the business of the poet and singer.
—Friedrich von Bodenstedt
Topics: Pain
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