Lily from Muralt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emilie "Lily" Mathilde von Muralt , née Wegmann (born June 2, 1849 in Brooklyn / New York City , † August 23, 1921 in Zurich ), was a Swiss writer for children's and youth literature . She wrote exclusively girls' books, which appeared both under the pseudonym Meta Willner and under her real name.

Life

Lily von Muralt was born in Brooklyn / New York in 1849 as the eldest child of the Zurich-born businessman Ludwig Eduard Wegmann. Her childhood and youth were shaped by several moves. Lily von Muralt spent the first three years of her life in Rio de Janeiro before her family moved to Brooklyn again. After seven years, the company finally moved to Zurich. There she first attended a private school and then a public school. In 1866, at the age of 17, Lily von Muralt returned to Brooklyn, USA with her family.   

In 1872 she married the Zurich lieutenant and businessman Karl von Muralt (* 1847; † 1909) in Brooklyn at the age of 22, who had followed her to the USA in 1869. In 1875 the couple returned to Zurich, where they settled down permanently. Lily von Muralt had six children with her husband, two of whom are known by name: Harry Albert von Muralt (* 1882, † 1945) and Alice Theodora von Muralt (* 1892, † unknown).  

In 1896, at the age of 47, Lily von Muralt published her first work Hannas Ferien - a story about a city girl named Hanna and her vacation in the country. Hanna's friendship with a country girl is thematized, both girls are conceived as the embodiment of opposing values ​​(artificiality vs. naturalness). Lily von Muralt's first work, which was initially published under the pseudonym Meta Willner, received a positive reception. In the following years she published other works with a similar thematic focus at regular intervals. For example, her story Lockenköpfchen from 1899 describes the friendship between the children Emma and Willy, who come from middle-class families, or Unconscious Influence from 1900 describes the life and everyday life of the girl Helene in the domestic and school context.

Her husband Karl von Muralt died in 1909, and Lily von Muralt died in 1921 at the age of 72 in Zurich.

Works

A total of eight works by Lily von Muralt are known, all of which were published by the Zurich publishing house Artistisches Institut Orell Füssli .          

Literary classification of the works

Lily von Muralt's works belong to the literary genre of the girl's book, also known as the Backfischroman , and deal with the themes that are characteristic of this genre for children and young people. The focus of Lily von Muralt's stories is on adolescent girls and their worries, desires and thoughts - the life and everyday life of the girls (e.g. school, friendships, family life, career aspirations) are discussed. Most of Lily von Muralt's stories are set in the middle-class family. The novels combine an entertaining as well as instructive and exemplary function for the young girls targeted as a target group by conveying the contemporary socially anticipated image of women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries .  

reception

Lily von Muralt and her works were the subject of contemporary reception. Lily von Muralt is both in the lexicon of German women written by the Austrian bibliographer Sophie Pataky from 1898 and in the 6th edition of the lexicon of German poets and prose writers from the beginning of the 19th century to the present by Franz Brümmer from 1913 and their literary works are listed. Her works can also be found in contemporary review journals. For example, the journals Der Bildungsverein and Deutsche Romanzeitung contain reviews of the narratives Hannas Ferien and Im Schatten blooms . The story Hannas Ferien is also listed on the contemporary selection and recommendation list Mitteilungen Aarau .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Otto Brunken, Bettina Hurrelmann, Maria Michels-Kohlhage, Gisela Wilkending (eds.): Handbook for children's and youth literature. From 1850 to 1900 . Metzler, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-476-01687-4 , pp. 1348 .
  2. ↑ a b c Franz Brümmer: Lily von Muralt . In: Franz Brümmer (ed.): Lexicon of German poets and prose writers from the beginning of the 19th century to the present . 6., completely reworked. and heavily reduced edition. tape 5 . Reclam, Leipzig 1913, p. 90 .
  3. ^ A b Elisabeth Friedrichs: Lily von Muralt . In: Elisabeth Friedrichs (ed.): The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries. A lexicon . Metzler, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 978-3-476-00456-7 , pp. 214 .
  4. ^ P. Kessel: Karl von Muralt. In: Historisches Familienlexikon der Schweiz. Retrieved July 5, 2020 .
  5. ^ Claudia Weilenmann: Annotated bibliography of Swiss children's and youth literature from 1750 to 1900. Bibliography annotée de livres suisses pour l'enfance et la jeunesse de 1750 à 1900 . Ed .: Swiss Youth Book Institute, Zurich. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1993, ISBN 978-3-476-00891-6 , pp. 300 .
  6. ↑ Author o. N .: Lily von Muralt . In: Hilmar Schmuck, Willi Gorzny (Ed.): Complete directory of German-language literature (GV) 1700-1910 . tape 101 . KG Saur Verlag, Munich / New York / London / Paris 1984, p. 102 .
  7. ↑ Nina von Zimmermann: From Backfischen and Hausmütterchen. The girls' authors Luise Caroline Gsell-Fels and Lily von Muralt . In: Libernensis . 6th year, no. 1 , 2007, p. 20 .
  8. ↑ Sophie Pataky: Lily von Muralt . In: Sophie Pataky (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German women of the pen. A compilation of the works by female authors that have appeared since 1840, along with biographies of the living and a list of pseudonyms . tape 2 . Berlin 1898, p. 72 .

literature

  • Brümmer, Franz : Lily von Muralt. In: Lexicon of German poets and prose writers from the beginning of the 19th century to the present. Vol. 5. 6., completely revised. and heavily probable ed. ed. Franz Brümmer. Leipzig 1913, p. 90.
  • Brunken, Otto / Bettina Hurrelmann / Maria Michels-Kohlhage, Gisela Wilkending (eds.): Handbook for children's and youth literature. From 1850 to 1900. Stuttgart 2008.
  • Friedrichs, Elisabeth: Lily von Muralt. In: The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries . A lexicon. Ed. V. Elisabeth Friedrichs. Stuttgart 1981, p. 214 (Repertories on German literary history 9).
  • Kessel, P .: Karl von Muralt. (http://www.hfls.ch/humo-gen/family/1/F25154/I74143/, date of access: July 5, 2020).
  • Pataky, Sophie : Lily von Muralt. In: Lexicon of German women of the pen. A compilation of the works by female authors that have appeared since 1840, along with biographies of the living and a list of pseudonyms. Vol. 2. Ed. Sophie Pataky. Berlin 1898, p. 72.
  • Author N / A: Lily von Muralt. In: Complete directory of German-language literature (GV) 1700–1910 . Vol. 101. Revised under d. Head of Hilmar Schmuck u. Willi Gorzny. Bibliographer. u. red. Advice to Hans Popst u. Rainer Scholler. Munich / New York / London / Paris 1984, p. 102.
  • Weilenmann, Claudia: Annotated bibliography of Swiss children's and youth literature from 1750 to 1900. Bibliography annotée de livres suisses pour l'enfance et la jeunesse de 1750 à 1900. Among collaborators. by Josiane Cetlin. Ed. V. Swiss Youth Book Institute, Zurich. Stuttgart / Weimar 1993.
  • Zimmermann, Nina von: von Backfischen and Hausmütterchen. The girls' authors Luise Caroline Gsell-Fels and Lily von Muralt. In: Libernensis 6 [1] (2007), p. 20.
personal data
SURNAME Muralt, Lily from
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Willner, Meta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss author of girls' literature
DATE OF BIRTH June 2, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn
DATE OF DEATH August 23, 1921
Place of death Zurich