Net Worth →
Author Bios

Gottlieb Stephanie: Biography, Facts and Career

Who is Gottlieb Stephanie? An evergreen, sourced profile: biography, key facts and career.

By the Pop Culture Files editorial team4 min read✓ Fact-checked
Gottlieb Stephanie
Johann Ernst Mansfeld via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger (19 February 1741 – 23 January 1800) was an Austrian playwright, director and librettist, most famously to Mozart. Stephanie was born in Breslau, Prussia. He was taken prisoner by the Austrian forces in the Battle of Landeshut (1760) in the Seven Years' War. After nine months of imprisonment in Villach, he joined the Imperial Army and went to Vienna after the war ended. He was appointed to head the National Singspiel, a favourite project of Emperor Joseph II. Stephanie's adaptation of Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's Belmont und Constanze has been harshly criticized; E. J. Dent called it "the very worst that he ever set to music". Mozart wrote to his father, "you are quite right so far as Stephanie's work is concerned. ... I am well aware that the verse is not of the best." In 1769 Stephanie adapted Shakespeare's Macbeth to suit popular taste in Vienna. It was performed in the 1770s.

Quick facts about Gottlieb Stephanie

  • Full name: Gottlieb Stephanie
  • Born: 1741-02-19
  • Known as: Author
  • Wikidata ID: Q78822

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Gottlieb Stephanie?

Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger (19 February 1741 – 23 January 1800) was an Austrian playwright, director and librettist, most famously to Mozart. Stephanie was born in Breslau, Prussia.

What is Gottlieb Stephanie known for?

Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger (19 February 1741 – 23 January 1800) was an Austrian playwright, director and librettist, most famously to Mozart. Stephanie was born in Breslau, Prussia.

When was Gottlieb Stephanie born?

Gottlieb Stephanie was born on 1741-02-19.

Sources

More in Books & Authors