Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ( or ; German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈniːtʃə] ( listen); 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, philologist, and Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24.