Mosen (Moses), Julius

German poet; born at Marieney, Saxony, July 3, 1803; died at Oldenburg Oct. 10, 1867. He was educated at Plauen, and studied law at the University of Jena; but the death of his father interrupted his studies, and, after traveling in Italy, he returned to his birth-place and entered the office of a lawyer. In 1831 he became judge of the patrimonial court of justice at Kohren, near Frohburg; and after its suppression in 1834 he practised law in Dresden. In 1844 he accepted the post of dramatic writer to the Court Theater at Oldenburg. About this time his health gave way; in a few years he was completely paralyzed, and he was pensioned shortly after 1850; but he continued his literary activity in spite of his infirmities. He wrote: "Das Lied vom Ritter Wahn" (Leipsic, 1831); "Gedichte" (ib. 1836, 2d ed. 1843); and the following novels: "Georg Venlot" (ib. 1831); "Novellen" (ib. 1837); "Der Kongress von Verona" (Berlin, 1842); "Bilder im Moose" (Leipsic, 1846). Mosen's plays are mainly historical, chief amongthem being: "Heinrich der Finkler" (Leipsic, 1836); "Cola Rienzi," "Die Bräute von Florenz," "Wendelin und Helene," "Kaiser Otto III." (collectively published under the title "Theater," Stuttgart, 1842); "Don Johann von Oesterreich"; "Herzog Bernhard" (Leipsic, 1855); and "Der Sohn des Fürsten" (Oldenburg, 1858). His collected works were published in eight volumes in Oldenburg in 1863; and a new edition in six volumes, with a biography, was prepared by his son and published in Leipsic in 1880.

Bibliography:

  * M. Zschommler, Mosen's Erinnerungen, Plauen, 1893;
  * Julius Mosen; eine Biographische Skizze, Oldenburg, 1878;
  * Jüdischer Plutarch, ii. 219-221.



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