Marie Henriette Steil (3 August 1898 – 18 December 1930) was a Luxembourgish writer and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. After publishing some short pieces in ''Les Cahiers luxembourgeois'', she aspired to become a professional writer but died when she was only 32. Her early works appeared as short stories in Luxembourg newspapers. She wrote a newspaper column, and then published a collection of allegorical tales in Leipzig in 1926, titled ''Tier und Mensch. Harmlose Geschichten'' (Animal and Man. Harmless Stories). The Luxembourg Post Office issued a stamp in her memory in 2005, with her portrait, and her allegorical tales were released as an audiobook in 2021.

Life

Born in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

, Steil is known to have been keen to assert her independence as a woman and to have promoted feministic trends such as a boyish hairstyle. Her earliest works were published in Luxembourg newspapers, after she submitted stories to a competition run by Luxemburger Zeitung. They included the story ''Der Mond und das Mädchen'' (The Moon and the Maiden) which she sent in to a contest organized by the '' Luxemburger Zeitung''. Other newspapers she contributed to included ''Jonghémecht'', ''Junge Welt'' and ''

Tageblatt ''Tageblatt'' is a German language daily newspaper published in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg by Editpress. Overview ''Tageblatt'' was established in 1913. The paper is the country's second-most popular newspaper, behind the rival '' Luxemburger W ...

''. In ''Les Cahiers luxembourgeois'' she maintained a column ''Lettres de Suzette à Micromégas''. She also wrote for the ''Berliner Lokalanzeiger'' and other German newspapers including ''Ullsteins Frauenblätter'' and ''Welt am Montag''. In 1926, Steil completed a collection of short stories titled ''Tier und Mensch. Harmlose Geschichten'' (Animal and Man. Harmless Stories) which was published in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. In these allegorical tales, animals take on the roles of human beings while humans behave like animals. Marie Henriette Steil died in Luxembourg City on 18 December 1930 at the age of 32, of a haemorrhage.

Legacy

In September 2005, the Luxembourg Post Office issued a stamp in her memory bearing the sketched portrait displayed here. Her work ''Tier und Mensch. Harmlose Geschichten'' (Animal and Man. Harmless Stories) was released as an audiobook by the Centre national de littérature in 2021, narrated by actor Steve Karier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steil, Marie Henriette 1898 births 1930 deaths People from Luxembourg City Luxembourgian writers Luxembourgian women writers Luxembourgian feminists 20th-century Luxembourgian writers 20th-century women writers