Rene Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke was born into a troubled marriage on the 4th December 1875 in Prague, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother, having previously lost a baby girl, would dress the young boy up in girl’s clothing. Later his father dispatched him to a military academy at age 10 but after a miserable 5 years the young Rilke left due to illness and instead entered first Prague and then Munich and finally Berlin university to study art history, philosophy and literature.His initial forays into literature was in poetry. His intense, mystical and lyrical style was much admired and over time inspired many in succeeding generations. His short prose collection ‘Stories of God’, written in an impassioned burst over several nights was published in 1900 and offers a beguiling view of much of Rilke’s influences and outlook. The following year he married the pioneering sculptor and artist Clara Westhoff. The union produced one child, a daughter Ruth. He lived in Paris for most of the Century’s first decade where he mixed with many great minds of the time. Although he continued to write he also worked as a secretary to the sculptor, Rodin. It was only after they settled in Switzerland in 1919 that his writing output was in full flow. Here he wrote profusely in both German and French, which included much on his previous travels, his left-wing sympathies, his religious and existential thoughts, all part of a unique and consummate style.From 1923 on, Rilke increasingly struggled with his health which was now in constant decline and often spent time rehabilitating at a sanatorium. Rainer Maria Rilke died of leukaemia on the 29th December 1926 in Montreux, Switzerland. He was 51.
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