Salomon Hermann Mosenthal

Salomon Hermann Ritter von Mosenthal ( born January 14, 1821 in Kassel, Hesse Electorate; † February 17, 1877 in Vienna, Austria - Hungary) was a popular playwright and librettist of his time.

Life

Mosenthal came from an impoverished German - Jewish merchant family, was active since his school days, literary and moved to Vienna in 1842. In the March Revolution of 1848, he published his popular play Deborah, which was premiered in 1849 in Hamburg and the poet gave a worldwide success. His most popular drama depicts the tragic love of a young, beautiful Jewish woman to a Christian theme and especially the question of whether and how Christian majority and Jewish minority in an enlightened state could live together:

The most famous work of Mosenthal is still probably be libretto for Otto Nicolai's comic opera The Merry Wives of Windsor stayed.

His international popularity opened Salomon Hermann Mosenthal the door to an unusually successful for a Jew of his time Career: In 1849 he was awarded in absentia a doctorate at the University of Marburg due to a paper submitted by him with the title "On the direction of poetry in ancient and modern times "and in honor of his already published works, 1850 Mosenthal was included in the ministerial civil service, in 1867 he received the title of Imperial Council, four years later, the Order of the Iron Crown and the title of Knight.

1877 died Salomon Hermann Ritter von Mosenthal in Vienna at the age of 56 years and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery Waehring. In 1888 in Vienna Waehring (18th district) of Mosenthalweg was named after him.

Works ( selection)

• The Dutchman Michel, 1846
• Deborah, 1848
• Cecilia of Albano, 1849
• Citizens and Molly. A German poet living in 1850
• The Sonnwendhof, 1857
• The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1845
• The Queen of Sheba, 1875
• Tales of Jewish family life, 1878