Vicki Baum
(born 24.01.1888 in Vienna, died 29.08.1969 in Los Angeles), author, musician
Hedwig Baum, known as Vicki, was a skilled harpist. She played for the Vienna Concert Society symphony orchestra and after that she was engaged as the Archduke’s Court and Chamber Musician in Darmstadt. Her novel Frühe Schatten (Early Shadows) was published in 1914, and from this point onwards she focused primarily on writing. Between 1926 and 1931 she worked as a magazine editor in Berlin. Vicki Baum reached a wide audience with her second novel, Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer. Her novels were involved in the burning of the books in 1933. She was expatriated in 1938 and took American citizenship.