Tripti Joshi (Editor)

Susette Borkenstein Gontard

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Name
  
Susette Gontard

Role
  
Poet

Books
  
The recalcitrant art


Susette Borkenstein Gontard uploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommons111Susett

Died
  
June 22, 1802, Frankfurt, Germany

Susette Gontard (née Borkenstein; 1769 – 1802), dubbed Diotima by the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin after Diotima of Mantinea, was the inspiration for Hölderlin's novel Hyperion, published in 1797–1799. She was the wife of Hölderlin's employer, the Frankfurt banker Jakob Friedrich Gontard. It is generally believed that the poet's fatal passion for her contributed to his descent into insanity and ultimate death. Hölderlin and Gontard exchanged a large body of letters, which was preserved and has been published in many editions.

References

Susette Gontard Wikipedia