COLLIN

collin, heinrich joseph von (1771-1811), austrian dramatist, was born in vienna, on the 26th of december 1771. he received a legal education and entered the austrian ministry of finance where he found speedy promotion. in 1805 and in 1809, when austria was under the heel of napoleon, collin was entrusted with important political missions. in 1803 he was, together with other members of his family, ennobled, and in 1809 made _hofrat_. he died on the 28th of july 1811. his tragedy _regulus_ (1801), written in strict classical form, was received with enthusiasm in vienna, where literary taste, less advanced than that of north germany, was still under the ban of french classicism. but in his later dramas, _coriolan_ (1804), _polyxena_ (1804), _balboa_ (1806), _bianca della porta_ (1808), he made some attempt to reconcile the pseudo-classic type of tragedy with that of shakespeare and the german romanticists. as a lyric poet (_gedichte_, collected 1812), collin has left a collection of stirring _wehrmannslieder_ for the fighters in the cause of austrian freedom, as well as some excellent ballads (_kaiser max auf der martinswand_, _herzog leupold vor solothurn_). his younger brother matthaus von collin (1779-1824), was, as editor of the _wiener jahrbucher fur literatur_, an even more potent force in the literary life of vienna. he was, moreover, in sympathy with the romantic movement, and intimate with its leaders. his dramas on themes from austrian national history (_belas krieg mit dem vater_, 1808, _der tod friedrichs des streitbaren_, 1813) may be regarded as the immediate precursors of grillparzer's historical tragedies. his _gesammelte werke_ appeared in 6 vols. (1812-1814); he is the subject of an excellent monograph by f. laban (1879). see also a. hauffen, _das drama der klassischen periode_, ii. 2 (1891), where a reprint of _regulus_ will be found. m. von collin's _dramatische dichtungen_ were published in 4 vols. (1815-1817); his _nachgelassene schriften_, edited by j. von hammer, in 2 vols. (1827). a study of his life and work by j. wihan will be found in _euphorion_, erganzungsheft, v. (1901).