Gabriele HaefsGabriele Haefs is a German writer and translator.Personal life and educationHaefs was born in Wachtendonk to Johann Heinrich Haefs and Annie Pasch, and married the Norwegian novelist Ingvar Ambjørnsen in 1985. She graduated with a doctorate in folkloristics from the University of Hamburg in 1982.CareerHaefs is credited for having discovered Jostein Gaarder's novel Sophie's World, which she translated into German language, and eventually became a worldwide bestseller. She was decorated Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit in 2011. She was awarded the Willy Brandt Prize in 2000.