Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844  25 August 1900) was a German Latin and Greek scholar, philosopher, cultural critic, poet and composer. He wrote several critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science. Nietzsche began his career as a classical philologista scholar of Greek and Roman textual criticismbefore turning to philosophy. In 1869, at age 24, he became the youngest-ever occupant of the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel. He resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and a complete loss of his mental faculties. He died in 1900 following a stroke.