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Religious upbringing -

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher born in 1844 to a devout Lutheran family. His father was a pastor, appointed to their village by the King of Prussia.

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Female influence -

His father died before he was five, and he was raised in a house full of women: his mother, his younger sister, his grandmother, and two aunts.

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Early academic success -

He excelled academically and was accepted to a prestigious school. He began studying theology and classical philology (in other words, the study of language and literary texts).

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Richard Wagner -

He became a professor of philology in Switzerland where he became close friends with composer Richard Wagner.  Nietzsche would later critique Wagner in his writings for his use of Christian motifs.

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Illness -

He caught dysentery and diphtheria during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and never fully recovered.

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Retirement -

By 1877 he had to request sick leave from his position as a professor at the age of 33. His health continued to deteriorate and he never returned to work.

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A painful existence -

Much of his life was lived in pain and illness. It’s believed that he also had severe syphilis which caused his later descent into mental darkness.

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The productive years -

His most productive years were those between his retirement and the time his mental and physical health deteriorated so severely that he could no longer function.

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At odds with his contemporaries -

Sadly, Nietzsche’s work received very little attention during his lifetime. Like many great artists and thinkers, appreciation of his genius came posthumously.

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Loneliness -

He was greatly misunderstood by his contemporaries and this contributed to his lonely existence.

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'Thus Spake Zarathustra' -

One of his most famous texts was the book ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra.’ It’s one of the most unique philosophical texts in history.

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'Thus Spake Zarathustra' -

He wrote it in a mock gospel style and filled it with biblical references. However, it harshly condemns Christian ideologies and morality, and the idea of a holy person.

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The Übermensch -

He rejected all traditional values and believed that religion and morality were constructs that weak humans cling to for comfort. The superior members of the human race, the ‘Übermensch,’ were those who truly commanded themselves.

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Nihilism - His theories were a form of nihilism, supporting the idea that in life there are no rules, no certainty, and no absolute values.

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"God is dead" -

Towards the end of the 19th century, Nietzsche observed an increased interest in science and a decreased relevance of religion in modern life. In one of his texts he famously said "God is dead."

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"God is dead" -

He was an atheist, so this statement referred to the death of our idea of a God rather than the death of a true existing God.

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Secularity -

Europe was starting to see that it didn't need a God as the source of all morality, value, and order. Rulers didn't need to be divinely ordained, but rather by consent of the people.

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Fear for the weak -

Nietzsche believed this could be problematic for mankind, as not all humans had the strength to guide themselves.

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Misinterpretation -

His theories about certain superior human beings contributed to his work being misunderstood during the rise of the Nazi regime.

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Master race -

It's easy to see how his idea about a superior kind of human could be twisted to support the idea of a master race. However, a Nietzschean Übermensch would not have followed any such regime.

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Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche -

In reality, it was Nietzsche’s sister Elisabeth who forced this connection between his philosophy and the fascist Nazi ideology. Elisabeth and her husband, Bernhard Förster, were active anti-Semites.

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Carer and guardian -

When Nietzsche became so ill that he was no longer lucid, he ended up in the care of his sister, who took control of his intellectual property. Friedrich Nietzsche passed away in 1900.

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Nueva Germania -

Elisabeth was deeply dedicated to the Nazi cause. While her husband was still alive, they went to Paraguay and tried to found an Aryan colony there.

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Husband's death -

Their project failed and her husband took his own life afterwards. Elisabeth later used her control of Nietzsche's work to further her standing with the Nazi party.

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Forgeries -

She began to edit and promote his work, twisting and distorting it to suit her agenda. She even went so far as to commit some petty forgeries.

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Elisabeth's death -

She died in 1935. Her funeral was attended by Hitler and many other Nazi dignitaries. Once the forgeries were discovered after her death, Nietzsche's work was completely re-evaluated and no longer interpreted as early fascist philosophy.

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Lasting impact -

In the end, Nietzsche became one of the most influential thinkers and cultural critics in history.

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Legacy -

He was sadly misunderstood during his lifetime and even after his death, but his legacy is unquestionable.

Source: (Britannica) (SparkNotes) (Big Think)

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What next? - Another one of the most influential thinkers in history was Sigmund Freud. Take a look at the life and works of the founder of psychoanalysis here.

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