Ruth Schaumann

Born in Hamburg on August 24, 1899, she grew up partly in Alsace and lost her hearing as a child after scarlet fever. Despite that, she went on to become a prolific German writer and artist, working as a poet, novelist, sculptor, draftswoman, and illustrator.

Her first poetry collection, Die Kathedrale, appeared in 1920. Sources consistently describe religion as an important thread in both her writing and visual art, and note that after her conversion to Catholicism, spiritual subjects became especially prominent in her work.

She lived much of her adult life in Munich and died there on March 13, 1975. Remembered for the breadth of her output as much as for any single book, she stands out as a creator who kept shaping words and images across decades.