Educated at the Industrieschule in Zurich, Keller was expelled from school and was forced to find work when he was 15. He became an apprentice in 1834 to the landscape painter Steiger and in 1837 to Meyer and studied art for a time at the Munich Academy. He returned to Zurich in 1842 and, although possessing artistic talent, took up writing instead. He published his first poems, Gedichte, in 1846. From 1848 to 1850, he studied at Heidelberg and from 1850 to 1855 at the University of Berlin. In 1855, he published his autobiography, Green Henry, which won critical acclaim. He returned again to Zurich and became secretary of a canton in 1861. In 1872, he published Seven Legends, which dealt with the early Christian era. He retired from the canton in 1876 to continue his writing. Keller was a master story-teller and his short stories are among the best of the late 19th century Germanic literature. His other works include The People of Seldwyla (1874), A Village Romeo and Juliet (1876), Zurich Novellen (1879), Collected Poetry (1883) and Martin Salander (1886). |
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