Frieda Port

Frieda Port (1854-1926) is born in Munich as the child of the Royal Commissioner for Accounting at the Directorate General of Railways in Munich, Friedrich Port, and his wife Josephine Heiniger (?). After the death of her mother, she moves to Nuremberg, where she is raised strictly by her aunt. At the age of 18, she takes over raising a humanist's four children herself. She satisfies her literary inclinations by writing poems, which she sends to the poet Hermann Lingg (1820-1905).

He becomes her literary mentor from then on. They start to exchange correspondence, which soon leads to a lifelong friendship developing. In 1879 Frieda Port returns to her father in Munich at the age of 25. Through Lingg's mediation she meets here with the poet Paul Heyse (1830-1914) and a circle of people who help shape intellectual Munich, among them the writers Wilhelm Hertz (1835-1902), Ludwig Laistner (1845-1896), Amelie Godin (1882-1956) and Richard Voß (1851-1918).

When Heyse publishes the book Neues Münchner Dichterbuch (New Munich Book of Poetry) in 1882, two female poets are among the contributors: Frieda Port and Amelie Godin. Heyse also puts Frieda Port in touch with his Berlin publisher Wilhelm Ludwig Hertz (1822-1901). In 1886 Port publishes her novella Jacopone von Todi (Jacopone of Todi), two years later Solange appears in the "Westermanns Monatshefte" (Westermann's Monthlies) magazine. When Lingg dies in 1905, she promises him that she will write his biography. The book is published in 1912 by the renowned Beck Verlag.

In 1913 Frieda Port joins the female writers' association founded by Emma Haushofer-Merk (1854-1925) and Carry Brachvogel (1864-1942) in Munich. An anthology with antique poems translated by her is published under the title Goldene Phorminx (Golden Phorminx) by Beck Verlag in 1923. On 14 June 1924 she is celebrated on her 70th birthday together with the jubilarians Carry Brachvogel and Emma Haushofer-Merk at the Münchner Schriftstellerinnen-Verein. Not only does Munich City Council congratulate the well-known writer but her work is also acknowledged in the daily press.

Frieda Port dies at the age of 72 in Munich.