Laura Gonzenbach
Encyclopedia
Laura Gonzenbach was a Swiss folklorist, active in Messina, who collected fairy tales in a number of European dialects.
Gonzenbach was born in a Swiss-German community of Sicily
, to a German speaking mercantile family, her sister, Magdelena, began a school in Messina. She became well educated and gained renown for the stories she gathered from a diverse range of sources, often other women. After the prompting of Otto Hartwig for material to append to a historical survey of the country, she produced what would become an important two volume collection, Sicilianische Märchen (Sicilian folk-tales), published in 1870. Her seminal works collected tales given verbally, by peasants or other working and middle classes, and is noted as one of the few major collections of the nineteenth century to be compiled by a woman.
Gonzenbach was born in a Swiss-German community of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, to a German speaking mercantile family, her sister, Magdelena, began a school in Messina. She became well educated and gained renown for the stories she gathered from a diverse range of sources, often other women. After the prompting of Otto Hartwig for material to append to a historical survey of the country, she produced what would become an important two volume collection, Sicilianische Märchen (Sicilian folk-tales), published in 1870. Her seminal works collected tales given verbally, by peasants or other working and middle classes, and is noted as one of the few major collections of the nineteenth century to be compiled by a woman.