Eva Heller (1948–2008)

Eva Heller grew up in Ludwigsburg, Germany. She studied sociology and psychology at the University of Berlin and the University of Frankfurt. Her first novel, 1987's Beim nächsten Mann (With the Next Man Everything Will be Different) was on the bestseller list for several years and was adapted into a 1989 film. Her second novel, Der Mann, der's wert ist (The Man's Worth), also had a circulations in the millions. Both books were among the most widely read in Germany and Eva Heller was considered a founder of a new, comedic women's literature. At the same time, she was working as a successful cartoonist. Eva Heller also wrote scholarly books about the effects of advertising and the psychological impact of color -- these also were bestsellers and translated into many languages. She wrote a book for children about color as well as a children's musical. She worked for a year as a visiting professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt, where she taught psychology and the psychology of color advertising; in 1990, she was visiting professor of communication psychology at the University of Arts in Berlin.