1. Annemarie Minna Renee Schwarzenbach was a Swiss writer, journalist and photographer.
32 Facts About Annemarie Schwarzenbach
1. 2.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach's anti-fascist campaigning forced her into exile, where she became close to the family of novelist Thomas Mann.
3.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach reported on the early events of World War II, but died of a head injury, following a fall.
4.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach was born in the city of Zurich, Switzerland.
5.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach's father, Alfred, was a wealthy businessman in the silk industry.
6.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach's mother, Renee Schwarzenbach-Wille, the daughter of the Swiss general Ulrich Wille and descended from German aristocracy, was a prominent hostess, Olympic equestrian sportswoman and amateur photographer.
7.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach liked dancing and was a keen piano player, but her heart was set on becoming a writer.
8.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach studied in Zurich and Paris and earned her doctorate in history at the University of Zurich at the age of 23.
9.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach lived in Westend, drove fast cars and threw herself into the Berlin night-life.
10.
In 1932, Annemarie Schwarzenbach planned a car trip to Persia with Klaus and Erika Mann and a childhood friend of the Manns, the artist Ricki Hallgarten.
11.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach's lifestyle ended with the Nazi takeover in 1933, when bohemian Berlin disappeared.
12.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach's parents urged Schwarzenbach to renounce her friendship with the Manns and help with the reconstruction of Germany under Hitler.
13.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach took several trips abroad with Klaus Mann, to Italy, France and Scandinavia, in 1932 and 1933.
14.
Marianne was fascinated by Annemarie Schwarzenbach: "She was neither a man nor a woman," she wrote, "but an angel, an archangel" and made a portrait photograph of her.
15.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach turned to morphine, which she had been using for years for various ailments but to which she now became addicted.
16.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach returned to Switzerland for a holiday, taking in Russia and the Balkans by car.
17.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach had been interested in the career of Lorenz Saladin, a Swiss mountain-climber and photographer from a modest background who had scaled some of the most difficult peaks in the world.
18.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach had just lost his life on the Russian-Chinese border.
19.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach was fascinated by his fearless attitude about life and his confidence in the face of difficulties, which contrasted with her own problems with depression.
20.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach rented a house in Sils in Oberengadin, which became a refuge for herself and her friends.
21.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach wrote Tod in Persien, which was not published until 1998, although a reworked version appeared as Das gluckliche Tal in 1940.
22.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach took her first trip to the USA, where she accompanied her American friend, photographer Barbara Hamilton-Wright, by car along the East Coast, as far as Maine.
23.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach's photographs documented the lives of the poor and downtrodden in these regions.
24.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach is reported to have had affairs with the Turkish Ambassador's daughter, who was suffering from tuberculosis, in Tehran and a female French archaeologist in Turkestan.
25.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach, who had plenty of troubles herself, knew that there was no future in a one-sided relationship and avoided meeting with McCullers, but they remained friends.
26.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach was at this time involved in a difficult relationship with the wife of a wealthy man, Baronessa Margot von Opel, and was still struggling with her feelings for Erika Mann.
27.
In March 1941, Annemarie Schwarzenbach arrived back in Switzerland, but she was on the move again.
28.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach travelled as an accredited journalist to the Free French in the Belgian Congo, where she spent some time but was prevented from taking up her position.
29.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach applied for a position as a correspondent for a Swiss newspaper in Lisbon.
30.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach suffered from depression, which she felt resulted from a disturbed relationship with her domineering mother.
31.
Annemarie Schwarzenbach is portrayed by Klaus Mann in two of his novels: as Johanna in Flucht in den Norden and as the Angel of the Dispossessed in Der Vulkan.
32.
Love letters written to Carson McCullers from Annemarie Schwarzenbach are at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.