Andreas Gryphius

GRYPHIUS, Andreas. b. Glogau, Silesia (now Glogów, Poland), 2 October 1616; d. Glogau, 16 July 1664. He was the son of a Protestant priest (the family Latinised the name Greif to Gryphius, a common practice). He had a difficult childhood: he lost his father in 1621 and his mother in 1628, and his school education was interrupted by the disturbances of the wars of religion. He was educated at the Evangelisches Gymnasium at Glogau, the Gymnasium at Fraustadt, and the Akademisches Gymnasium at Danzig. From 1636-38 he was a private tutor near Fraustadt to the son of Georg von Schönborn, a noted jurist. After Schönborn’s death, he accompanied the son to Leiden, where Gryphius stayed and taught...