E. Marlitt is the pseudonym of Eugenie John (December 5, 1825 – June 22, 1887), a popular German novelist.
Biography
She was born at Arnstadt. Her father was a portrait painter; her patroness was the Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, who adopted her in 1841 and sent her to Vienna to study music for three years on account of her fine voice.
She became deaf, and returned to Sondershausen, living for 11 years at court as a companion to her patroness. Her correspondents were struck with her attractive style, and encouraged her to write novels. For this purpose, she returned to Arnstadt in 1863, and there began her career as a novelist. She used her experiences at court and as a traveling companion to the princess as material for her books, which were primarily directed against social prejudice and hypocrisy.
