Gregor Samarow

Gregor Samarow was the pen name of Oskar Meding (1828–1903), a German writer, diplomat, and civil servant born in Königsberg. He studied law in Königsberg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, and later worked in Prussian and Hanoverian government service before becoming known as an author.

Writing under several pseudonyms, Meding published many novels as Gregor Samarow, often drawing on contemporary politics and recent European history. His books were especially popular in the Bismarck era, when readers were drawn to fiction that mixed court life, diplomacy, and current events.

Sources agree on his importance as a once-popular historical novelist, though they do not fully agree on every biographical detail, including whether he was born in 1828 or 1829 and the exact day of his death in July 1903. No suitable verified portrait image was confirmed from the pages reviewed, so none is included here.