August Kotzebue was born on 3 May 1761 in Weimar, Germany, into a respected family of merchants and public servants; his father was a consular official. He attended the Gymnasium in Weimar, where the Director was his uncle, the Enlightenment writer Johann Karl August Musäus, and went on to study law at the universities of Jena and Duisburg. In both of these cities he became actively involved in the theatre, founding amateur dramatic societies. In 1780 he returned to Weimar to practise law. After one year he obtained the post of Secretary in the Engineer's department in St. Petersburg and at the same time was made director of the German Theatre there. In 1783 he was appointed to the position of Recorder in Reval (Estonia), and two

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First published 21 March 2002

Citation: Osborne, John. "August von Kotzebue". The Literary Encyclopedia. 21 March 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2559, accessed 9 February 2010.]