Countess Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (, ; 13 September 183012 March 1916) was an Austrian writer. Noted for her psychological novels, she is regarded as one of the most important German-language writers of the latter portion of the 19th century. Biography Early life and family She was born at the castle of the Dubský von Třebomyslice family in Zdislawitz near Kroměříž in Moravia (present Zdislavice in the Czech Republic), the daughter of Baron (from 1843: Count) Franz Joseph Dubsky von Trebomyslicz, a nobleman whose family roots are deeply Catholic and Bohemian, and his wife Maria Rosalia Therese, née Baroness von Vockel, who came from a noble Protestant-Saxon background. Marie lost her mother in early infancy, but received a careful intellectual training from two stepmothers, first Baroness Eugenie von Bartenstein, and then her second step-mother, Countess Xaverine von Kolowrat-Krakowsky, who often contributed to her inspiration by taking her to the Burgtheater (town theater, citizen's theater) from time to time in Vienna. Despite being part of a noble family having access to her family's vast libraries, she was never actually formally schooled. However, because of her curiosity, access to information, and educated family, she became auto-didact at a young age, and was taught fluent French, German, and Czech. In 1848 she married her cousin, Moritz von Ebner-Eschenbach, a physics and chemistry professor at a Viennese engineering academy. Later on, he would become an Austrian captain, and promoted to lieutenant field marshal on his retirement. The couple resided first in Vienna, then, from 1850, at Louka (Klosterbruck) near Znojmo, as the engineering academy had been relocated there, and after 1860 again in Vienna. The marriage was childless to disappointment of both of them. Marie grappled with the domestic tasks. She kept a journal and wrote letters explaining how she felt unsatisfied. It has been speculated that Marie may have suffered from "hysteria" including debilitating headaches and excessive nervousness. Career and success Marie began devoting herself to literary work. In her endeavours she received assistance and encouragement from Franz Grillparzer and Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen. Her first publicized work was the drama Maria Stuart in Scotland (), which Philipp Eduard Devrient produced at the Karlsruhe theatre in 1860. Then came a tragedy in five acts, Marie Roland, with several one-act dramas: Doktor Ritter, Violets (), and The Disconsolate One. Though she was encouraged to keep writing, her relative failure in the field of playwriting had actually