Das ist ein hässliches Gebrechen, wenn Menschen wie die Bücher sprechen.
Doch reich und fruchtbar sind für jeden, die Bücher, die wie Menschen reden.
Oskar Blumenthal
Elizabeth von Arnim was born as Mary Annette Beauchamp
in 1866 in Kirribilly Point, Australia. Childhood and youth she spent in England to where the family moved in 1870 —
the relocation by ship lasted nearly four months, by the way.
At the age of 23 she met her later husband Henning August Graf von Arnim-Schlagenthin while travelling in Italy
with her father. Five years after the marriage in 1891 Elizabeth moved with him to Pommerania to the Nassenheide manor.
The couple had five children (s.b.) of which only the last one was the son and heir Henning was longing for so much.
In 1899 the Arnims had a troubleful year when Henning was arrested due to an intrigue, pretending to have made irregular banking transactions. The defamation affair ended up with a clear acquittal in the summer of 1900.
Elizabeth and Henning separated only a few years after the birth of her son and sold Nassenheide manor due to
financial problems. Elizabeth moved to England with the children; Henning died in 1910 during a residence in Bad
Kissingen. The very same year, Elizabeth became the lover of H.G. Wells.
Two years later she bought Chalet Soleil in the Valais, Switzerland, which became a beloved place for her, her family
and her friends. Her cousine Katherine Mansfield visited her in the Valais, hoping to cure her tuberculosis. Until of
Katherines death in 1923 both the cousins met very often.
In 1914 Elizabeth started an affair with Francis Stanley Russell, Viscount Amberley (grandson of the Prime Minister and brother of the mathematician Bertrand Russell). They married in 1916 — not really a good thing for an independent Elizabeth, because Francis proved to be a despotic egoist. In the same year, after the death of her daughter Felicitas, she already escaped to the USA where the other daughters lived. When Francis found out the location he followed her in 1917. The couple seemed to reconcile, but it didn't work out for a very long time and Elizabeth finally separated from Francis in 1919.
One year later she met Alexander Stuart Frere, about thirty years younger, and fell in love with him. Both they had an
impassionate affair, which turned out to a deep, lifelong friendship.
From 1928 on Elizabeth bothered for a residence in the south of France: 1930 she was able to move to the Villa Mas de Roses.
It became her home for nearly ten years until the political situation in Europe made her move to the USA in 1939.
The author died in 1941 at the age of 75 in Soth Charleston, USA. Her ashes were transferred to Buckinghamshire, England, in 1947, where she is buried next to her beloved brother Sydney.
Here works are strongly influenced by autobiographic experiences. All of her books are linked to persons or places she knew. Starting around the year 1900 she visited several places selectively to research for a book. Portofino and Rügen are some of the examples.
8.12.1891
Eva Sophie Luise Anna Felicitas (Evi), in Berlin
15.2.1893
Elizabeth Irene (Liebet), in Berlin; + 1976
3.4.1894
Beatrix Edith (Trix), in London; + 3.1.1987
29.7.1899
Felicitas Joyce (Queekie), in London; + 3.6.1916
27.10.1902
Henning Bernd (H.B.), in London; + 1969