born Dec. 30, 1819, Neuruppin, Brandenburg
died Sept. 20, 1898, Berlin
German writer.
He began his career as a journalist and wrote books based on his travels before turning to the novel late in life. Before the Storm (1878) is considered a masterpiece of historical fiction. Effi Briest (1895), known for its superb characterizations and skillful portrayal of his native Brandenburg, is one of his several sympathetic treatments of women in circumscribed domestic lives. He is considered the first master of modern German realism .