Jean Paul (March 21, 1763 – November 14, 1825), born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter was a German author.

He was born in Wunsiedel (Fichtelgebirge), Germany, and his father was an organist and village pastor. He grew up in poor circumstances and went to school in Hof, where he lived with his grandparents. He studied theology and philosophy in Leipzig from 1781 to 1784, but he was unable to finish his studies due to poverty. From 1790 to 1794, he worked as a teacher in a school he had founded in Schwarzenbach and wrote on the side.

His first literary success was Die unsichtbare Loge in 1793. Finally, he had sufficient income to devote himself entirely to his writing. In 1795, Hesperus was published. It was the greatest hit since Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers and made Jean Paul famous.

From 1798 to 1800, he lived in Weimar, where he met Herder, Goethe, and Schiller. In the spring of 1800 he met Karoline Meyer on a trip to Berlin, and they married a year later. They had two children. Until 1803, he was Legationsrat in Meiningen, Coburg, and Bayreuth. His son Max died in 1821, and this was a great blow to Jean Paul. He became blind in 1824.

He died in Bayreuth of pneumonia.

Works

• Leben des vergnügten Schulmeisterlein Maria Wutz 1790
• Die unsichtbare Loge 1793
• Hesperus 1795
• Leben des Quintus Fixlein 1796
• Siebenkäs 1796
• Der Jubelsenior 1797
• Das Kampaner Tal 1797
• Titan 1802
• Flegeljahre (unfinished) 1804
• Levana oder Erziehlehre 1807
• Dr. Katzenbergers Badereise 1809
• Auswahl aus des Teufels Papieren
• Bemerkungen über uns närrische Menschen
• Biographische Belustigungen
• Clavis Fichtiana
• Das heimliche Klaglied der jetzigen Männer
• Der Komet
• Der Maschinenmann
• Des Feldpredigers Schmelzle Reise nach Flätz
• Des Luftschiffers Giannozzo Seebuch
• Die wunderbare Gesellschaft in der Neujahrsnacht
• Freiheits-Büchlein
• Grönländische Prozesse
• Leben Fibels