Gabriele Haefs (born 27 August 1953) is a German writer and translator. She was born in

Wachtendonk Wachtendonk at the confluence of Niers River and Nette River is a municipality in the district of Kleve in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Duisburg and Venlo at the Dutch Dutch commonly refers ...

to Johann Heinrich Haefs and Annie Pasch, and is married to Norwegian writer

Ingvar Ambjørnsen Ingvar Even Ambjørnsen-Haefs (born 20 May 1956) is a Norwegian writer. He is best known for his "Elling" tetralogy: ''Utsikt til paradiset'' (1993), ''Fugledansen'' (1995), ''Brødre i blodet'' (1996), and ''Elsk meg i morgen'' (1999). ''Brødr ...

. She is credited for having discovered

Jostein Gaarder Jostein Gaarder (; born 8 August 1952) is a Norwegian intellectual and author of several novels, short stories, and children's books. Gaarder often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often ...

's novel '' Sophie's World'', which she translated into German language, and eventually became a worldwide bestseller. She was decorated Knight of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livi ...

in 2011. She was awarded the

Willy Brandt Prize The Willy Brandt Prize is an annual prize awarded by the Norwegian-German Willy Brandt prize foundation (in German: ''Norwegisch-Deutsche Willy-Brandt-Stiftung'') since 2000. It is awarded to persons or institutions that make significant contribut ...

in 2000.

References

1953 births Living people People from Kleve (district) German translators Norwegian–German translators {{Germany-writer-stub