{"id":62969,"date":"2025-11-05T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/?post_type=lecture&p=62969"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:49:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:49:38","slug":"the-brothers-grimm","status":"publish","type":"lecture","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/","title":{"rendered":"The Brothers Grimm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>
great lives lecture series<\/div>

The Brothers Grimm<\/strong><\/strong><\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

Lecture Date: February 17, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Janet Hedrick ’73 and Jack Bales Lecture<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Over two hundred years ago, the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of world-famous fairy tales eventually published in 170 languages, making the Brothers Grimm among the top dozen most translated authors in the world. But few people today are familiar with the fascinating origins and actual contents of the Grimms\u2019 tales. Accustomed to Disney versions and other sanitized twentieth- and twenty-first-century retellings, some readers are shocked by the violence and darkness in many Grimm tales; others, having heard of this violence, wrongly assume that every Grimm tale is saturated with bloodcurdling gruesomeness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dispelling such misconceptions opens a path to better understanding the Grimms\u2019 remarkable achievements amid tremendous personal and political upheavals. This lecture presents the \u201conce upon a time\u201d of the fairy tales in the context of the Grimms\u2019 time and their legacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
VIEW PHOTO SLIDESHOW
<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Speaker: Ann Schmiesing<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ann Schmiesing is a professor of German and Scandinavian studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Her book The Brothers Grimm: A Biography <\/em>(Yale University Press, 2024) appeared on The<\/em> New Yorker\u2019<\/em>s <\/em>\u201cBest Books of 2024\u201d and The New Statesman\u2019s <\/em>\u201cBest Summer Reads 2025\u201d lists. Her other publications include the books Disability, Deformity, and Disease in the Grimms\u2019 Fairy Tales <\/em>(2014) and Norway\u2019s Christiania Theatre, 1827-1867: From Danish Showhouse to National Stage <\/em>(2006), as well as over two dozen articles on fairy tales and folklore, disability studies, book illustration, and drama and dramatic criticism.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"season":[1263],"class_list":{"0":"post-62969","1":"lecture","2":"type-lecture","3":"status-publish","5":"season-1263","6":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Brothers Grimm - Great Lives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Brothers Grimm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lecture Date: February 17, 2026 The Janet Hedrick ’73 and Jack Bales Lecture Over two hundred years ago, the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of world-famous fairy tales eventually published in 170 languages, making the Brothers Grimm among the top dozen most translated authors in the world. But few people today […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Great Lives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T20:49:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/11\/Grimm_cover-677x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"677\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Brothers Grimm - Great Lives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Grimm_cover.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-06T00:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T20:49:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Grimm_cover.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Grimm_cover.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1935},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/the-brothers-grimm\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lectures\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/lecture\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Brothers Grimm\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/\",\"name\":\"Great Lives\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatlives\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Brothers Grimm - Great Lives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Brothers Grimm","og_description":"Lecture Date: February 17, 2026 The Janet Hedrick ’73 and Jack Bales Lecture Over two hundred years ago, the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of world-famous fairy tales eventually published in 170 languages, making the Brothers Grimm among the top dozen most translated authors in the world. But few people today […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/","og_site_name":"Great Lives","article_modified_time":"2026-03-30T20:49:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":677,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/11\/Grimm_cover-677x1024.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/","name":"The Brothers Grimm - Great Lives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/11\/Grimm_cover.png","datePublished":"2025-11-06T00:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-30T20:49:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/11\/Grimm_cover.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2024\/11\/Grimm_cover.png","width":1280,"height":1935},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/the-brothers-grimm\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lectures","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/lecture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Brothers Grimm"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/","name":"Great Lives","description":"University of Mary Washington","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lecture\/62969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lecture"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/lecture"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/season?post=62969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}