Johann Wolfgang von Goethe studied law and drawing before becoming the greatest poet the German language has ever known. Led by a gargantuan curiosity, he published books on light and plant metamorphosis in addition to seminal works of fiction such as The Sorrows of Young Werther and Faust, which inaugurated European Romanticism. In addition to this, he served as a councillor to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, there overseeing educational, industrial, and even highway reforms.
A man who traveled widely in Europe, spoke Latin, Greek, French, and Italian (in addition to his native German), set forth innovative theories on plant and animal biology, attempted to bridge the gap between eastern and western poetry, wrote essays on everything from aesthetics to anatomy, Goethe also designed houses, managed the theater at Weimar, developed a radical and influential theory of color, and with his dying breath demanded “More light!” // Patrick Barrett