Franziska Gräfin zu Reventlow (1871–1918)

Franziska "Fanny" zu Reventlow was born in Husum, northern Germany, to an aristocratic Prussian family. Her parents were Count Ludwig zu Reventlow and his wife Emilie. In 1894, she married Walter Lübke, who financed her art studies in Munich. The marriage broke up a year later and they divorced in 1897. That year she gave birth to her son Rolf. Having been cut off by her family, she supported herself by doing translation work and writing short articles for magazines and newspapers. Her other jobs included secretary, cook, and insurance agent. Her semi-autobiographical first novel, Ellen Olestjerne, was published in 1900. She became a member of the Munich Cosmic Circle based around the mystic Alfred Schuler. She wrote about her experiences with the group in her novel Herrn Dames Aufzeichnungen (1913). Also in Munich, she befriended many other bohemian and modernist writers. She traveled through Greece and Italy with her son and settled in Switzerland, where she wrote her "Schwabing" novels. In 1911, she made a marriage of convenience with Baron Alexander von Rechenberg-Linten. She died at age 47.