AUERBACH, BERTHOLD

born Feb. 28, 1812, Nordstetten, near Horb, Wrttemberg died Feb. 8, 1882, Cannes, France German novelist noted chiefly for his tales of village life. Auerbach prepared for the rabbinate, but, estranged from Jewish orthodoxy by the study of the 17th-century Dutch philosopher Benedict de Spinoza, he turned instead to literature. Spinoza's life formed the basis of his first novel (1837); a translation of Spinoza's works followed in 1841. In 1843 Auerbach began publishing the Schwarzwlder Dorfgeschichten (Black Forest Village Stories), and there later appeared novels in the same genre, among them Barfssele (1856; Little Barefoot) and Edelweiss (1861). These works found a wide public and many imitators. They are not realistic studies of rural life and owed some of their popularity to Auerbach's philosophical reflections and romanticism.