Henriette Davidis (1801–1876)

Henriette Davidis was born in Westfalen, Wengern on the Ruhr River, today a part of the city of Wetter (Ruhr), a daughter of Ernst Heinrich Davidis, a minister, and his wife Katharina Litthauer.

She grew up to become the most famous cookbook author in Germany. In her work Die Hausfrau, she also discussed other areas of household management, from bookkeeping to animal husbandry, and for this she's often considered the German equivalent of Mrs. Beeton in England. The first edition of her now-classic cookbook Praktisches Kochbuch für die gewöhnliche und feinere Küche was published in 1844. She wrote an autobiography in 1874, but it was left was unpublished and is now lost.