Eduard von Keyserling
Eduard von Keyserling (1855-1918) was a notable Baltic German author recognized for his exploration of life on Baltic estates through a literary lens. Born into a family with a rich heritage of military and diplomatic service in Kurland, Keyserling's upbringing on his family's estate significantly influenced his writing. He studied at the university in Dorpat (modern-day Tartu, Estonia) but faced expulsion, leading him to engage with socialist circles in Vienna. His literary career began with novels he later disavowed, and despite health challenges caused by a venereal disease, he achieved recognition with his 1903 novel "Beate und Mareile." Keyserling's works often depict complex character archetypes and delve into themes of eroticism, portraying it as both a source of suffering and a path to liberation from societal constraints. His later years were marred by health decline and financial difficulties due to geopolitical tensions, yet he left a lasting imprint on literature, especially in his evocative use of impressionistic techniques. Today, his papers are housed in the Bavarian State Library in Munich, reflecting his enduring legacy in literary history.
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Subject Terms
Eduard von Keyserling
Writer
- Born: May 18, 1855
- Birthplace: Schloß Paddern, Hasenpoth, Kurland, Germany
- Died: September 28, 1918
- Place of death: München, Germany
Biography
Eduard von Keyserling was born in 1855, the eighth child of Eduard von Keyserling, Sr., and Theophile von Rummel. His paternal family produced a number of scientists and philosophers and had a history of serving in the Russian and Prussian military and diplomatic service while maintaining their hereditary estates in Kurland. Keyserling’s childhood experiences on the family’s estate provided the background of much of his literary production. He attended the gymnasium in the little town of Hasenpot (now Aizpute, Latvia), then studied at the university at Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia). He was expelled from that institution in 1877 for an unexplained transgression and then traveled to Vienna, where he attached himself to socialist circles. During this period he wrote two novels that he later repudiated.
In Vienna, Keyserling contracted a venereal disease that eventually led to the blindness and paralysis he suffered in later years. In 1889, he returned to the family estate and supervised its business for approximately five years. Beginning in 1894, he traveled extensively through Europe with his sisters and then began writing plays. In 1903, he published Beate und Mareile, which was later translated in 1928 as The Curse of the Tarniffs. This novel established him as the great chronicler of life on a Baltic estate and also developed the prototypes of the characters that would populate his future work. These recurring character types include the chaste noblewoman, the unchaste, yet proper, nobleman, and the temptress.
Suffering from blindness and paralysis, Keyserling’s last years were made even more difficult by the loss of income from the Kurland estates due to hostilities between Germany and Russia. He died at the age of sixty-three, leaving many devoted admirers of his impressionistic technique and his sympathy with human suffering. Keyserling’s most important contribution to the literature of his time may have been his portrayal of eroticism as both a cause of great pain and a means of release from the restrictions of caste. His papers are collected in the Bayrische Staatsbibliothek, Munich.