Emilie von Berlepsch

Dorothea Friderika Aemilia von Berlepsch (née von Oppel; 26 November 1755 – 27 July 1830), known as Emilie von Berlepsch, was a German traveller and author. She is regarded as an early writer about women's rights in Germany. Life Berlepsch was born in Gotha in 1755. Her parents were and his wife Amalie. When her father died, her mother remarried, and she was looked after by an uncle and given a good private education. She published some poetry and then a book of protest because Switzerland was invaded in 1798 by the French. She married when she was sixteen and had three children with him. The marriage ended in divorce in 1787. Her ex-husband married Anna Dorothea Helene Siever, who had been her maid, after the divorce. By this time Berlepsch's writing was being regarded as more than amateur and aspiring to art. She is said to have "set her cap", unsuccessfully, at Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. She left Switzerland in protest at the French invasion of the country and swore never to set foot in it again while it was occupied. She went to visit Scotland in 1799 and 1800. She had already met the polyglot Reverend James Macdonald in Germany who was acquainted with C. M. Wieland and J. G. Herder. Macdonald was an enthusiast for improving relations between Scotland and Germany. The vicar in Fife became Berlepsch's chosen host. He looked after her and took her on tours of Scotland; some of her time was spent in Edinburgh and some in the Highlands. Berlepsch wrote a four volume account titled Caledonia, in German, which described Scotland, including the remote highlands, and discussed women writers publishing in English.