E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and Gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. Hoffmann's stories highly influenced 19th-century literature, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic Movement. He is the author of the novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, on which Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker is based.