Schumann, Felix

LYRICAL POET (GERMANY)
BORN 11 Jun 1854, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen - DIED 16 Feb 1879, Frankfurt am Main, Hessen
BIRTH NAME Schumann, Walter Alfred Felix
CAUSE OF DEATH tuberculosis
GRAVE LOCATION Frankfurt am Main, Hessen: Hauptfriedhof (Gewann J, 709 (Ehrengrab))

Felix Schumann was the son of the composer Robert Schumann and the pianist Clara Schumann-Wieck. He was born after his father was committed to the sanatorium of Endenich near Bonn, where his fahter would die in 1856. Felix was named after Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. He attended the Joachimsthalsche Gymnasium in Berlin, where he lived with his teacher professor Hermann Planer. He showed literary and musical talent from an early age. In 1867 Joseph Joachim gave him his Stradivarius that he had posessed since 1850. But Joachim also discouraged a musical career because he was afraid that Felix would be measured against his parents. Clara was also sceptical of his talents as a musician. His frail health hindered his progress. His godfather Johannes Brahms set three of his poems to music.

In 1872 he decided to study law in Heidelberg. But soon he neglected his studies and he acquired gambling debts. Clara was forced to help him out. From 1872 he suffered from tuberculosis. He travelled to Switzerland and England where he taught German and music. He also went to Montreux and Southern Italy. In between he often visited Clara at her house in Baden-Baden. In 1877 he planned to resume his studies in order to pursue a writing career. But in 1878 his health detoriated. Brahms and the physician Theodor Billroth visited him in Naples and it became clear that there was little chance that he would recover. The last weeks of his life he lived with his mother in Frankfurt am Main, where Clara had moved in 1878. He died there on 16 February 1879. He was only 25 years old at the time.

Family
• Father: Schumann, Robert
• Mother: Schumann, Clara
• Sister: Schumann, Julie

Related persons
• knew Brahms, Johannes
• knew Joachim, Joseph

Images

The grave of Felix Schumann at the Hauptfriedhof in Frankfurt am Main.
Picture by Androom (30 Jul 2022)

 

The grave of Felix Schumann at the Hauptfriedhof in Frankfurt am Main.
Picture by Androom (30 Jul 2022)

 

Sources
Clara Schumann Chronology, Internet, 1996
Felix Schumann (Dichter) – Wikipedia
Felix Schumann - Schumann-Portal


Schumann, Georg

Published: 10 Aug 2022
Last update: 20 Sep 2023