Rachel Akerman (1522 – 1544) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

poet. The earliest Jewish woman to write

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poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

; born probably at

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, 1522; died at

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, 1544. She appears to have received an excellent education, having studied both

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

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. She soon exhibited poetical powers, and began to exercise them at an early age. On account of her poem, "Geheimniss des Hofes" ("The Mystery of the Courts"), in which she described the intrigues of courtiers, Rachel and her father were expelled from Vienna, where they had lived. She died in

, heartbroken.

References

1522 births 1544 deaths 16th-century Austrian writers 16th-century Austrian women writers Austrian women writers Austrian women poets Austrian Jews Jewish poets Writers from Vienna 16th-century Jews Jewish women poets {{Austria-writer-stub