Amalie Schoppe

Born on October 9, 1791, in Burg on the island of Fehmarn, she grew up in difficult circumstances after her father's early death and spent much of her youth in Hamburg. Despite that rough start, she became a remarkably productive German writer and went on to publish widely under names including Adalbert von Schonen, Amalia, and Marie.

She is remembered especially as an author for children and young people, though her work ranged further and included historical novels. Accounts of her career describe a vast output running to around 200 volumes, a sign of both her popularity and her extraordinary discipline as a working writer.

Later in life, her path took her across the Atlantic, and she died in Schenectady, New York, on September 25, 1858. That journey from Fehmarn to the United States adds an unusual final chapter to the life of a writer whose books reached generations of German-speaking readers.