Adelbert von Chamisso was a German poet and botanist. The author's most famous fictional work, which was published in 1813, is the story “The wonderful history of Peter Schlemihl”. In the story of a man who has lost his shadow, Chamisso reveals the psychological state of his contemporary, tempted by wealth, the danger of loss of personality. Chamisso gave the hero some autobiographical characteristics. However, the deep philosophical meaning of this symbolic story takes it beyond the ironically reinterpreted autobiography.
