Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born on August 28th 1749.

von Goethe was a German writer and statesman whose lifetime work was not limited to those fields, although his famous piece is the play Faust.

Goethe was ennobled at the age of 25 and, over his life, wrote novels, poetry and dramas, criticism, and on botany and anatomy, a polymath like many were in the 18th and 19th centuries before specialisation became more common, who did not limit himself to any one field.

As well as his writings, Goethe also worked as a civil servant for the Duke of Saxe-Weimar and managed a theatre.

Image: Joseph Karl Stieler [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Goethe_%28Stieler_1828%29.jpg)