Nietzsche intellectual biography

In their first meeting in Rome in 1882, Friedrich Nietzsche initiated a greeting to Lou Andrea-Salome (1861 - 1937), the young girl aged twenty-one, with these words laden with anticipation: "From which of the two stars did we meet here?" In fact, there is no doubt that the young woman of remarkable beauty left a strong impression on the "Philosopher of Solitude" who was then thirty-seven years old, an impression that prompted him to propose marriage immediately after their meeting and before leaving Rome. However, the young woman chose to delay her response. In their second meeting, Nietzsche and the girl climbed Mount Sacro in Rome together, and while they were on their way down, the philosopher felt a deep exhilaration and later thanked his companion for the "most enchanting and captivating dream of my life." Lou once told Nietzsche: "Our conversations and talks unconsciously lead us to the abyss... while you get the impression that you are climbing alone to a vantage point from which you look into the depths." From this profound and precise understanding of the psychological scene extending into Nietzsche's inner life, Lou set out to write this book, in which she presented a psychological portrait that is as critical as it is empathetic of the philosopher who shared his honesty with her as no one else ever did.