The authors of Grimms Fairy Tales were brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, born in Hanau, Germany in 1785 and 1786 respectively. They were the eldest of six siblings and grew up in a time of political upheaval and social change.
Jacob and Wilhelm both studied law at the University of Marburg, but their true passion was for language and literature. They began collecting folk tales and legends from the German countryside, which they published in two volumes as Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales) in 1812 and 1815.
The Grimms' collection of fairy tales was groundbreaking in its use of authentic dialects and regional variations, as well as its inclusion of stories that had previously been considered too crude or violent for children. The book was an instant success and has since been translated into over 160 languages.
In addition to their work on fairy tales, the Grimms were also scholars of Germanic linguistics and literature.
