A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Schopenhauer, Johanna Frosina
SCHOPENHAUER, JOHANNA FROSINA,
Born in the year 1770, at Dantzic, where her father, Henry Frosina, was senator, showed at an early age a decided talent drawing and painting, as well as for languages. After having received in her parental home a careful education, and enjoyed a happy youth, she married Henry Flaris Schopenhauer, who accompanied his young wife through Germany to France, thence to London, where they remained a long time; and afterwards through Brabant, Flanders, and Germany, back to Dantzic. There she lived until the capture of this free city by the Prussians, in 1793. The next ten years she spent with her husband in Hamburg. In 1803, they visited Holland, the North of France, England, Scotland, and went from Holland to Paris. There she had the good fortune to be thoroughly taught, by the celebrated Augustin, in miniature painting, which had always been her favourite occupation. From Paris, the travellers went over the south of France to Ghent, wandered through Switzerland, saw Munich, Vienna, (where they remained some time,) Presburg, Silesia, Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburg, touched Dantzic, and after three years came back to Hamburg, where a sudden death snatched away Mr. Schopenhauer. She then fixed (1806) her abode in Wiemar, where a highly refined social circle surrounded her, to which Goethe, Wieland, Henry Meier, Fernow, Bertuch, Falk, Fr. Mayer, and many literary women, belonged, of whom this city may well be proud. Every suitable foreigner was her welcome guest. Between her and Fernow (of whom she learned the Italian language) existed an ideal friendship, which death interrupted two years after. G. V. Kügelgen had 'at that time arrived in Wiemar to take Goethe's, Wieland's. Schiller's, and Herder's portraits. A description of these four portraits, and of several oil-paintings by the landscape painter Frederic were the first publications of which Mrs. S. acknowledged herself to be the authoress. She was induced by Cotter to write Fernow's life. This work appeared in 1810. Two years later, she published "Remembrances of a Tour through England;" 1816, followed a volume of "Novels;" 1817, the "Trip to the Rhine and its Nearest Environs;" and 1818, the "Journey (trough the South of France." The writer has obtained a just approval for her nice observations; joined to an easy and graceful style. Her last work is the popular novel, "Gabrielle." Like all her other Dumerous works It exhibits great powers of observation, and a thorough knowledge of the world and men.
Madame Schopenhauer died at Jena, in April, 1838.