Ferdinand von Schirach

Ferdinand Benedikt von Schirach (born 12 May 1964) is a German lawyer and writer. He published his first short stories at the age of forty-five. Shortly thereafter he became one of Germany's most successful authors. His books, which have been translated into more than 35 languages, have sold millions of copies worldwide and have made him "an internationally celebrated star of German literature."

Life and work

Schirach was born in Munich. A member of the noble Sorbian (West Slavic) Schirach family, he is the son of Munich businessman Robert Benedict Wolf von Schirach (1938–1980) and his wife Elke (née Fähndrich, born 1942/1943, married 1962, divorced 1970). His father's parents were National Socialist youth leader Baldur von Schirach, and Henriette von Schirach née Hoffmann . His American great-grandmother was a descendant of Henry Middleton and John Parker. His mother Elke was the daughter of Ernst Fähndrich (died April 1945), who had worked for Heinrich Himmler, and Gretl Wieshofer-Kiehn, from her first marriage. Gretl was daughter of Fritz Kiehn (1885–1980), a former member of the Reichstag and owner of Efka-Werke.