Woerishofer, Sophie

The daughter of a lawyer. Cousin of the largest German poet of the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries Detleva von Lilienkron . The niece of the historian and philosopher Rochus von Lilienkron . At the age of 13, she remained an orphan, in 1857 she moved to Altona with her mother. She received the usual education for girls of that time. She lived a long time in Hamburg , from the port of which she then sent the heroes of her books to dangerous voyages. She changed different classes.

In 1857, she married the architect Albert Woersshofer, who died in 1870 and left her without a livelihood. Poverty forced Sophie to engage in literary work. At first she wrote articles for newspapers, as well as stories and novels for women on the topics of housekeeping experience. Later she began to create books for children and youth.

The first success came to S. Woerishofer in 1873. Written by her on 700 pages, the novel about the adventures of young Robert in the German merchant and navy ( Robert des Schiffsjungen Fahrten und Abenteuer auf der deutschen Handels- und Kriegsflotte ) was literally swept away from the shelves of bookstores. The novel has withstood about 10 reprints. Together with the resourceful and dexterous Robert, the reader traveled around the world, came out unscathed from trials, suffered shipwrecks, survived in the north, in California, in the battles of the Franco-Prussian war.

Her action-packed novels, to the limit of intense travel and adventure, she immediately won the hearts of young readers. In Germany and Russia, France and England, she read as well-educated young men, and just mastered reading. In the last quarter of the 19th century, her adventure novels were very popular. The writer never had to experience the exploits, torments, passions and successes that her fearless heroes passed through in mysterious corners of the planet. But Sophie had a fiery imagination, dreamed of traveling around the world. And she was fascinated, carried away by the amazing flora and fauna on different continents, at that time so little studied.

The content of most of her novels is the adventures of a German youth in distant lands, among “villains”, savages, and animals. The hero leaves all trials and temptations innocent and unharmed, taking with him the path of "good" and his vacillating friends. S. Wörsshofer used, based on the effect, sometimes unverified information from the fields of zoology, botany, and ethnography.

At one time, the books of S. Woerishofer were for the young reader a transition from a sensational adventure to a journey-adventure. They aroused interest in natural science facts.

She was a master of the adventurous-geographical genre. At that time, the names of the writers Jules Verne , Emilio Salgari , R. Ballantyna , A. Lori , with which it was not so easy to compete and compete, were already booming in the literature of adventure. But even venerable literary scholars recognized in encyclopedias: “The success of S. Woersshofer’s novels is explained by the skillful deployment of the narrative and the entertaining plot”. L. N. Tolstoy appreciated and enthusiastically read her novels in the family. In 1888, he recognized S. Wörisshofer as “the truthful transfer of vital and, in addition, scientific facts obtained from the latest geophysical works”.

Her best works can be considered: “The Ship of Naturalists” - an educational journey of two young men across Africa, Borneo and the islands of Polynesia, and “Among Pirates” - a novel about the adventures of a boy among Moorish pirates in the 17th century.

A significant part of the novels by S. Woerishofer was translated into Russian. Before the October Revolution, they were issued by a number of publishing houses ( Wolf , Pavlenkov and Lukovnikov, Gubinsky). Several editions included: The Ship of Naturalists (Educational Journey), Diamonds of the Peruvian (Treasure of Peru), and From London to Australia. Traveling on a ship with exiles ”and“ Fairytale Country ”.

Later in Russia were published “Through the wilds and deserts”, “The Adventures of a Smuggler” (dedicated to the era of the Napoleonic Wars), “On the warpath. Native American History from the Far West ”,“ Reunion in Australia ”,“ Golden Land California. Travels and the fate of gold prospectors ”and others.

Youth books [edit | Edit]

• Robert with a ship boy and adventures in the German merchant and navy , 1877
• Naturalist's ship or the journey of a young hamburger with Hammonia over her father’s possessions in the South Sea , 1880
• On the warpath. Indian history from the far west , 1881
• The book is a good person. Pictures from marine life , 1882
• Crisscross India. The wanderings of two young German light sailors in the Indian world of miracles , 1884
• Onnen Visser, the smuggling son of Norderney , 1885
• Through the jungle and desert sand , 1886
• Lionel Forster, quarter. History of the American Civil War of 1887
• Reunion in Australia , 1888
• Diamonds of Peruvian. Travel to Brazil and Peru , 1889 (ULB Münster)
• Under the Corsairs. Walking, adventures and battles in the southern seas and the experience of Christian slaves in Tripoli , 1890
• In the Golden Land of California. The Journeys and Fates of Gold Miners , 1891

Adult Stories and Novels [edit | Edit]

• From the experience of a housewife. Christmas present for brides in Germany , 1874
• Stocks , short stories, 1874
• Double marriage at the house of Werkenthin , Novelle, 1875
• In the abyss , story, 1878
• Daughters of a lawyer , short story, 1884
• From Sex to Sex , Roman, 1888
• Guilt of the Fathers , narrative, 1892
• Demon Money , Short Story, 1893
• Sensitive , Roman, 1891
• The Secret of the House of Wolfram , Roman, 1897
• The Curse of Beauty , Roman, 1901

• In Altona, one of the streets bears her name.

• Literary Encyclopedia. - In 11 t.; M .: publishing house of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Frice, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939.

• Biography (German)