Adelbert von Chamisso, a German romantic writer and naturalist, was born in France and forced to flee at the time of the French Revolution. He was a member of the literary circle of Mme. de Stael near Geneva. He is best known for his humorous tale of Peter Schlemihl (1814), the man who sold his shadow to the devil. The German composer Robert Schumann set some of Chamisso's verse to music.
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