Karl May
| Karl May | |
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| Born | Karl Friedrich May 25 February 1842 Ernstthal, Saxony, German Confederation |
| Died | 30 March 1912 (aged 70) Radebeul, German Empire |
| Occupation | Writer; author |
| Nationality | German |
| Genre | Western, travel fiction, 'Heimatromane', adventure novels |
| Website | |
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Karl Friedrich May (/maɪ/ MY; German: [maɪ]; also Carl; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West. His main protagonists are Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. May set similar books in the Orient and Middle East in which the main protagonists were Kara Ben Nemsi and Hadschi Halef Omar, Latin America and Germany. May also wrote poetry, a play, and composed music; he was a proficient player of several musical instruments. Many of his works were adapted for film, stage, audio dramas and comics. Later in his career, May turned to philosophical and spiritual genres. He is one of the best-selling German writers of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide.
May was the fifth child of a poor family of weavers in Ernstthal, Schönburgische Rezessherrschaften (then part of the Kingdom of Saxony). He had thirteen siblings of whom nine died in infancy. During his school years, he received tuition in music and composition. At twelve, May was making money at a skittle alley, where he was exposed to rough language.
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