Luise Gottsched

Luise Adelgunde Victorie Gottsched was a German poet, playwright, essayist, and translator, and is often considered one of the founders of modern German theatrical comedy.

Biography

She was born in Danzig in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. She became acquainted with her husband, the poet and author Johann Christoph Gottsched, when she sent him some of her own works. He apparently was impressed, and a long correspondence eventually led to marriage. After marriage, Luise continued to write and publish, and was also her husband's faithful helper in his literary labours. Her uncle was the anatomist Johann Adam Kulmus.

Works

She wrote several popular comedies, including Das Testament, and translated The Spectator, Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock and other English and French works. After her death her husband edited her Sämtliche kleinere Gedichte with a memoir.