E. T. A. Hoffmann

Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776 to 1822), born Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann, was a German Romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror who was also a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. His short story The Sandman is seen as a pioneering work of horror fiction, while his novella Mademoiselle de Scuderi is regarded as one of the earliest examples of crime fiction. His novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is the basis of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, and his stories underlie Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann and the ballet Coppélia. His stories highly influenced nineteenth-century literature, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement.