Conrad Ferdinand Meyer

Well respected in German-speaking countries, Swiss author Conrad Ferdinand Meyer was born in Zurich in 1825. His father died when he was 15; when he was 30, his mother committed suicide. Fluent in French, he considered writing in that language, but in consequence of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 he decided on German.Beginning in 1872, when he was 46, he published a work almost every year, consisting of historical novels and novellas, and poetry.After a long illness, he died in 1898.