Death Masks of the Famous and Infamous

Friederich Nietzche (1844-1900)

Friedrich Nietzche was a German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, scholar, philologist and more. His life and his work had a great impact on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history. He was the youngest ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel at the age of 24. He resigned in 1879 due to health complications that he would suffer from for most of his life. Then, in 1889, at the age of 44, he suffered a mental breakdown and a complete loss of his mental faculties. He was cared for by his mother up until her death in 1897, and then by his sister Elizabeth until he died in 1900.