Marah Durimeh is a fictional character from

Karl May Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...

's novels around Kara Ben Nemsi. Her real identity is Ruh'i Kulyan (''ghost of the cave''). She is known as Es Sahira (''the magician'') to Kurds. Durimeh is a Kurdish people, Kurdish princess and widow of a famous king. She is said to have written several books. Karl May intended to write several novels about her, similar to the Winnetou series, but he never got to it. The character changed from the wild and ugly creature of early publications to what he understood as the female Orient counterpart to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indian chief Winnetou, both personifying mysticism and the ascent ''from a low, lustful person, rising to become a nobly spirited person''. Several times it is referred to her as the ''soul of mankind''. He states in his autobiography that he modelled the character after his own grandmother, with whom he was very close and who raised him in his early childhood, especially during his blindness.

Original German stories

* ''Durchs wilde Kurdistan'' (1892) * ''Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen'' II (1898) * ''Babel und Bibel - Arabische Fantasia in zwei Akten'' (1906, drama) * ''Ardistan und Dschinnistan I'' (1909) * ''Ardistan und Dschinnistan II'' (1909) There are many references to her: * ''Von Bagdad nach Stambul'' (1892) * ''Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen III'' (1902) * ''Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen IV'' (1903) * ''Und Friede auf Erden!'' (1904) * ''Winnetou IV'' (1910)

Durimeh's role in the novels

She is aunt of Abd el Fadl, great aunt of Pedehr, great grandmother of Shakira and a friend of Ustad. Ahriman Mirza thinks of her as his principal opponent. Kara Ben Nemsi meets these persons many times and also encounters her often. Durimeh and he have long discussions about religion. More than hundred years of age, she has still retained her power and she is highly regarded by everyone. She ends violent fights between different ethnic groups.

Movies with "Mara Durimeh"

* 1920 "On the Brink of Paradise, Auf den Trümmern des Paradieses", silent movie believed to be lost. * 1965 "Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen
imdb.com
One of the German Karl May movies of the 1960s with the American actor Lex Barker.

External links

Article in the encyclopedia of Karl May figures
(German)
English translations of Karl May's works by Nemsi BooksEnglish translations of Karl May's works by Marlies Bugmann

References

# {{note, auto
My Life and My Efforts, Autobiography by Karl May (1842-1912)
- What Marah Durimeh meant for him (.txt)

(German) Characters in German novels of the 19th century Characters in German novels of the 20th century Fictional Kurdish people Fictional princesses Fictional writers, Durimeh, Marah de:Figuren aus den Romanen von Karl May#Marah Durimeh