Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749?1832) was a monumental German poet, playwright, novelist, and scientist who became the central figure of Weimar Classicism and European Romanticism. Born in Frankfurt, he reluctantly studied law before abandoning it to pursue literature, writing The Sorrows of Young Werther at just 24 years old based on his own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff. The book took only five weeks to write and catapulted him to overnight international stardom, making him one of the world's very first literary celebrities. Goethe later became a prominent statesman in Weimar and secured his permanent legacy by composing his crowning masterpiece, the epic tragic play Faust.