Johanna Schopenhauer (1766–1838)

Johanna Schopenhauer was the first female German writer to publish books without a pseudonym. She was born Johanna Henrietta Trosiener into a wealthy merchant family in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). In 1785, at age 18, she married a friend of her father, Heinrich Floris Schopenhauer, who was twice her age, and had two children. Their son Arthur grew up to become a famous philosopher and their daughter Adele became a writer. The couple traveled widely in England and France. After her husband's death, Johanna settled in Weimar, Germany, where she hosted a literary salon that attracted such notables as Goethe, Wieland, and the brothers August and Friedrich Schlegel, among others. She wrote articles on painting, particularly on Jan Van Eyck. In 1810, she published her first book, Fernows Leben, about her friend Karl Fernow; it was the first full-length biography of an art historian. Her two-volume biography Johann van Eyck und seine Nachfolger appeared in 1821. She also wrote successful travelogues and novels, including Gabriele (1819), Die Tante (1823) and Sidonia (1827). Within a few years, Johanna Schopenhauer had become the best-known woman writer in Germany. In 1831, she published her collected works in 24 volumes. A manuscript of her autobiography was left infinished at her death and later published by her daughter.