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Louise von François (Herzberg, Elster, 1817-93, Weißenfels), the daughter of a Prussian major of Huguenot descent, who died when she was an infant, lost her fortune through the mismanagement of her guardian—a disaster which also cost her her fiancé: she released him from his engagement when she discovered herself to be portionless. She remained in straitened circumstances, spending many years looking after her ailing mother. A woman of character, determination, and firm religious faith, she educated herself; when well into middle age, she began to write and publish fiction with the encouragement of G. Freytag.
Her first stories appeared anonymously in magazines. She began under her own name with two volumes of Novellen (1868), in which the best-known story is Judith die Kluswirtin. Her principal novel is the historical work Die letzte Reckenburgerin (1871), and this was followed by Frau Erdmuthens Zwillingssöhne (2 vols., 1873), Stufenjahre eines Glücklichen (1877), and Der Katzenjunker (1879). Two volumes of ErzählungenHellstädt, 3 vols.) and in 1876 (Natur und Gnade, 3 vols.). appeared in 1871, and two further collections in 1874 (
Two stories appeared separately, Phosphorus Hollunder in 1881, and Zu Füßen des Monarchen in 1882. She also wrote a comedy, Der Posten der Frau (1882). A final volume of stories (Das Jubiläum) was published in 1886. Her works are predominantly historical, and she made careful studies of appropriate sources in preparation for them. They show perceptive characterization, a gift for realism, and some originality of construction.
Louise von François was a friend and correspondent of both Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach and C. F. Meyer. Her correspondence with him appeared in 1905