M. Gontard-Schuck

Born in Gumpelstadt, Thuringia, in 1861 and later living in Wesermünde and Dortmund, she published fiction under the names M. Gontard-Schuck, Lutz von Bollanden, and Emil Peterhans. Reference works identify M. Gontard-Schuck as the pseudonym of Margarete Schuck, a German author whose life stretched from March 22, 1861, to 1950.

Her best-known book is Seelenverkäufer: Das Schicksal einer Deutsch-Amerikanerin, first published in 1914. It is commonly described as an autobiographical novel, and its success was strong enough to lead to a 1919 film adaptation. Between 1914 and 1924, she published several narrative works, including Schiffbruch im Hafen, Daphne, and Scheidung?.

What makes her work stand out is its mix of melodrama and lived experience. Even in brief bibliographic records, her writing is linked with themes of displacement, women's vulnerability, and the search for dignity—especially in Seelenverkäufer, which helped keep her name in print long after her most active publishing years.