Marie von Bunsen (1860–1941)

Marie von Bunsen was born in London, England, to a wealthy and liberal-minded Anglo-German family. Her parents were Georg von Bunsen, a Prussian politician, and his wife Emma Birkbeck, a member of a British banking family. With her family, Marie traveled extensively in England and abroad during her youth. She painted watercolors, and from 1882 to 1927 was a member of the Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen (Association of Berlin Women Artists), the oldest association of female artists in Germany. She also served for a while as a lady-in-waiting for the German Empress Victoria, during the brief reign of her husband, Emperor Frederick III in 1888.

In her house in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Marie held a salon together with her friends Hedwig Heyl and Else Schulhoff. Between 1911 and 1914, Marie visited several countries in Asia and in 1934 she published Im Fernen Osten (In the Far East) about her travels. She also published biographies of members of royalty as well as a biography of art critic John Ruskin (1903). She was financially independent until the German hyperinflation of 1923 and afterwards earned her living by her painting and by writing articles and reviews in magazines and newspapers. She produced a total of 66 works in 209 publications in her literary career.