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Johann Wolfgang Goethe was born on 28 August 1749 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany as son of a lawyer. After growing up in a privileged upper middle class family, he studied law in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768, although he was more interested in literature. As he was seriously ill, he had to interrupt his studies, but finally graduated in Strassburg with a degree in law. In the following years, his novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (1774) became one of the first bestsellers, making him a key author in the "Sturm und Drang" (Storm and Stress) movement. In 1775, he settled down in Weimar, being the Duke's adviser and writing popular dramas such as "Egmont" or "Torquato Tasso". One of his life's important milestones was the Italian Journey from 1786 and 1788, where he discovered his interest in Greek and Roman classicism. After his return to Germany, he began the "Weimar Classicism" movement with his good friend Friedrich Schiller, concentrating on poems and dramas such as his best known work "Faust", which he published in two parts (1808/1832). Beside his literary work, he contributed many interesting theories to sciences, making him Germany's leading polymath in that period. On 22 March 1832, he died in Weimar, the town he had lived for more than fifty years.

Sir Walter Scott was born August 15, 1771, in Edinburgh, Scotland, as the ninth child (and the fourth surviving) of Walter Scott, a solicitor, and his wife Anne Rutherford. Polio, contracted when he was two, resulted in a crippled left leg, but even this illness did not prevent Scott from growing into a tall and energetic man.

Raised on the old Border tales and ballads that would later influence his historical novels, Scott was a clever and active child. Unfortunately, poor health interrupted his studies at Edinburgh University, and after being apprenticed to his father's legal firm for a year, Scott decided to study law. While visiting the Highlands on business in 1786 and 1787, he met not only Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle (who once fought a duel with Rob Roy MacGregor) but also the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns.

After his first love broke his heart by marrying another man, Scott married a Frenchwoman, Charlotte Charpentier, on Christmas Day, 1797, after a whirlwind romance. They remained happily married until her death in 1826.

Scott began writing poetry at an early age, and so distinguished himself in this that he was offered the Poet Laureateship in 1813, which he turned down. He published his first novel, "Waverley," in 1814, and it quickly became one of the most successful English language novels ever published. Scott chiefly concentrated on novels in his latter years, putting aside his poetry to publish "Ivanhoe" in 1819 and "Rob Roy" in 1817.

After suffering a stroke and apoplectic paralysis in 1831, Scott died on 21 September 1832.

Friedrich Kuhlau was born on 11 September 1786 in Uelzen, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Holy Roman Empire [now Lower Saxony, Germany]. He was a composer, known for La nuit de la Saint-Jean (1935), Wolo (1916) and Markurells i Wadköping (1931). He died on 12 March 1832 in Lyngby-Taarbæk, Denmark.