Keun, Irmgard (1905–1982)

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Keun, Irmgard (1905–1982)

West German novelist. Name variations: (pseudonym) Charlotte Tralow. Born Feb 6, 1905, in Berlin, Germany; died May 5, 1982, in Cologne, Germany; dau. of Eduard Ferdinand Keun.

Published Gilgi—eine von uns (Gilgi-One of Us, 1931), followed by Das kuntseidene Mädchen (The Artificial Silk Girl, 1932), which was a bestseller. Wrote of young, petit-bourgeois women searching for independence during the Weimar era and early years of the Nazi movement; after her books were banned by Nazis, went into exile (1936) and published Nach Mitternacht (After Midnight, 1937) and D-Zug dritter Klasse (On a Railroad to Nowhere, 1937), among others; though an antifascist, returned to the Third Reich and as a result has remained a controversial figure ever since; after the war, wrote under pseudonym Charlotte Tralow to modest success, until her early works were rediscovered.