Kinkel, JOHANN GOTTFRIED

Kinkel, JOHANN GOTTFRIED, a German poet and writer, was born at Oberkassel, near Bonn, 11th August 1815. He studied theology at Bonn and Berlin, and then lectured on theology, afterwards on poetry and the history of art, at the university of Bonn. But, becoming involved in the revolutionary movement of 1848, he was imprisoned in the fortress of Spandau, whence, however, he escaped with the help of his wife and Karl Schurz. Settling in London, he earned his living by teaching German until 1866, when he was appointed professor of Archaeology and Art at Zurich. There he died, 13th November 1882. As a poet Kinkel's fame rests upon the epics Otto der Schütz (1846; 56th ed. 1881), a graceful poem of the chivalry of the Rhine; Der Grobschmied von Antwerpen (1872; 4th ed. 1887); Margret, cine Dorfgeschichte (1872); Tanagra (1883; 3d ed. 1886); two volumes of Gedichte (1843-68); and a drama, Nimrod (1857). He also wrote a history of art (1845); a series of essays on art subjects (1876); and monographs on Rubens (1874), Freiligrath (1867), &c. See Lives by Strodtmann (1850), Am Rhyn (1883), Lübbe (1893).—His first wife, JOHANNA (1810-58), a distinguished musician, wrote with her husband, Erzählungen (1849). After her death appeared her novel, Hans Ibeles in London (1860).