Fontane, Theodor (1819-1898)

German novelist. His best work, such as the historical novel Vor den Sturm/Before the Storm (1878), a critical but sympathetic account of Prussian aristocratic life, and Effi Briest (1898), is marked by superb characterization and a concern with the position of women.

He was born in Neuruppin, Brandenburg, and worked as a freelance journalist in Berlin. He toured England and wrote stirring poems and popular ballads - his Gedichte and ballads Männer und Helden are inspired by Old English ballads and have English themes. He also wrote topographical books before turning to realist fiction. Among his novels, describing everyday life, are Irrungen, Wirrungen/Trials and Tribulations 1888 and Der Stechlin 1899. As drama critic of the Vossische Zeitung he was one of the first to defend the Norwegian and German playwrights Henrik Ibsen and Gerhardt Hauptmann.