Johann Peter Eckermann

Born Sept. 21,1792, in Winsen, Bavaria; died Dec. 3, 1854, in Weimar. German literary figure. Secretary and friend of Goethe.

From 1821 to 1823, Eckermann studied literature and aesthetics at the University of Göttingen. His Conversations With Goethe in the Last Years of His Life (parts 1–3, 1837–48; first abridged Russian translation, 1891; complete translation, 1934) is more complete and of higher literary quality than any other memoir about the poet. Eckermann put Goethe’s archives into order and prepared his works for publication. He was also the author of lyric poems, which were published in collections in 1821 and 1838.