Kathinka Zitz (''née'' Halein; November 4, 1801March 8, 1877) was a German poet, short story writer, journalist, translator and novelist who has been called "the poet laureate of the

German Revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Biography

Kathinka Halein grew up in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. Born to Anton Victor and Anna Marie Markowitzka Halein. The family was well off until the Napoleonic Wars. During the wars they were forced to live sparingly and moved in with Zitz-Halein's maternal grandmother's house. Her mother died on May 26, 1825, and her father grew increasingly erratic and violent. In the early 1820s she was given power of attorney and ran the family's business. Zitz-Halein worked as a governess for three years but returned to Mainz to care for her young sister. She provided income for the family by selling embroidery and teaching French lessons. In the 1830s she translated three novels by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

. On June 3, 1837, she married a distant relative, the prominent

attorney and 1848 revolutionary Dr.

Franz Heinrich Zitz Dr. Franz Heinrich Zitz (November 18, 1803 in Mainz – April 30, 1877) was a prominent Mainz attorney and enjoyed much success with women due to his comeliness. He was a restless and at times dissolute man. On June 3, 1837, he married the w ...

. They lived together for two years. She wrote for the '' Mannheimer Abendzeitung'', opposing censorship and calling for reform in marriage, divorce and guardianship laws. In the

German revolutions of 1848–49 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

she founded and was first president of the Humania Association, the largest revolutionary women's organization. A prolific short story writer, in the 1860s she wrote fictionalized biographical novels of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...

Rahel Varnhagen Rahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen () (née Levin, later Robert; 19 May 1771 – 7 March 1833) was a German writer who hosted one of the most prominent salons in Europe during the late-18th and early-19th centuries. She is the subject of a celebr ...

and

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

Published works

Kathinka Zitz-Halein's published works as cited by ''An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers''. Translations: *''Marion der Lorme'', 1833. *''Triboulet, oder der Königs Hofnarr'', 1835. *''Cromwell'', 1835. Novels: *''Goethe'', 1863. *''Heine'', 1864. *''Rahel Varnhagen'', 1864. *''Byron'', 1867. *''Für einen übertreibenden Deutschthümler'', 1991. Children's books: *''Die jungen Helden. Ein Buch für Knaben, Mainz, J.Scholz, 1840.

References

External links

Zitz-Halein, Kathinka in Encyclopedia of 1848 RevolutionsFour poems by Zitz-Halein
at the Sophie database {{DEFAULTSORT:Zitz, Kathinka 1801 births 1877 deaths German feminists Writers from Mainz People of the Revolutions of 1848 People from Rhenish Hesse 19th-century German women writers 19th-century German poets 19th-century German novelists 19th-century German journalists 19th-century German translators French–German translators 19th-century German women journalists

Biography

Published works

References

Further reading

External links