Wilhelm Grimm

Born on February 24, 1786, in Hanau, Wilhelm Grimm was a German writer, librarian, and scholar. He is remembered above all for his partnership with his older brother Jacob Grimm, with whom he collected and edited the stories later published as Children’s and Household Tales—the collection that made the Brothers Grimm famous around the world.

Wilhelm played a major role in shaping the style of those tales, helping turn oral storytelling into vivid, memorable reading. Alongside that literary work, he also studied German legends, language, and medieval literature, making the brothers important figures in both folklore and philology.

He spent much of his later life in academic and library work, including in Göttingen and Berlin. Wilhelm Grimm died on December 16, 1859, but the stories and scholarship he helped preserve have continued to influence readers, writers, and storytellers ever since.