Background
He was born in Potsdam, son of General Franz Kasimir von Kleist (1736–1808) and his wife Caroline Luise Eleonore Johanne (also née von Kleist, but of the Zützen branch of the family. 1747–1780).
He was born in Potsdam, son of General Franz Kasimir von Kleist (1736–1808) and his wife Caroline Luise Eleonore Johanne (also née von Kleist, but of the Zützen branch of the family. 1747–1780).
In 1784 Franz Alexander entered the Prussian Infantry Regiment of the Duke of Brunswick ("Herzog von Braunschweig"). He wrote several texts while he was in Halberstadt. After he left the town until his early death he kept up a correspondence with Gleim.
He took part in the campaign of 1789, then left the army and went to Berlin.
Under Minister Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg he became an attaché in 1791.
Franz Alexander was a member of the noble Pomeranian von Kleist family. Franz Alexander is reckoned as a member of the Halberstadt Poetry Circle ("Halberstädter Dichterkreis").
