Annemarie Selinko

Who was Annemarie Selinko?

Annemarie Selinko was an Austrian novelist who wrote a number of best-selling books in German from the 1930s through the 1950s. Although she had been based in Germany, in 1939 at the start of World War II she took refuge in Denmark with her Danish husband, but then in 1943, they again became refugees, this time to Sweden.

Many of her novels have been adapted into movies and all have been translated into numerous languages. Her last work Désirée was about Désirée Clary, the one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte and later Queen of Sweden and Norway. It is dedicated to her sister Liselotte, who was murdered by the Nazis. Translated into 25 languages, in 1954 it was turned into a major Hollywood movie starring Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons.