Sebastian Brant

Sebastian Brant (1458?-1521), German poet and humanist, who achieved fame through his satirical poem Das Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools, 1494). Born in Strasbourg (now in France), he studied at the University of Basel, taught and practiced law there, and then returned to Strasbourg, where he became town clerk in the early years of the 16th century. Das Narrenschiff, one of the most remarkable and popular books of the time, tells of a shipload of people looking for a fools' paradise. They all die because of their errant behavior. Each character represents a vice or folly of Brant's time. The poem has undergone many translations and versions and formed the basis for Ship of Fools (1962), a novel by American writer Katherine Anne Porter.