Wilpert was born in
Tartu (
Dorpat),
Estonia. Like all
Baltic Germans, he was forced to leave Estonia after the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the takeover of the country by the
Soviet Union (1939–40). From 1953 to 1957 he studied at the
University of Heidelberg, where he was at times a
docent. He then settled near
Stuttgart to work as independent author and lecturer. Wilpert published several editions of an encyclopedia of literary descriptions
Sachwörterbuch der Literatur. He also wrote a comprehensive
Lexikon der Weltliteratur [Lexicon of World Literature] and earlier had published his
Deutsche Literatur in Bildern [German Literature in Pictures] and a journal on
Schiller. He was elected a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1983. Wilpert died in Sydney. == Books==