Charlotte von Lengefeld

Portrait by Ludovike Simanowiz in 1794Charlotte Luise Antoinette von Schiller (née von Lengefeld; 22 November 1766 – 9 July 1826) was the wife of German poet Friedrich Schiller and was herself an author and translator.

Early life Lengefeld was born in Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, into an aristocratic family, and given an education appropriate to a life at the ducal court of Weimar. Her father (1715–1775), who died when she was a young girl, had been a forest administrator (Oberlandjägermeister, Master of the Hunt) of Louis Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, while her mother was , nee Wurmb (1743–1823). In her young adulthood she was introduced to the literary circles of Weimar. She became friendly with Charlotte von Stein, who was at the center of the circle of Weimar Classicism as a friend of Schiller and sometime mistress of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Stein confided in her throughout her complex relationship with Goethe.

Her first love was a soldier, but after her family's opposition the engagement was dropped.

The precise nature of Schiller's relationship to the two sisters has been disputed. In Caroline's later novel Agnes von Lilien, two women both pursue a relationship with a young baron, and critics have debated whether to understand the novel's love triangle as a reflection of Caroline, Charlotte, and Schiller (more recent critics are less inclined to do so). The letters later published from Schiller's correspondence with Charlotte are both deeply affectionate and literate; according to Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lengefeld's admiration for Schiller's early work, particularly "The Artists," was important to their courtship. She has also been identified as the author of several works found among her husband's papers and posthumously included in collected editions alongside his work, notably the novel Die heimliche Heirat (The Secret Marriage). She was a gifted translator and embarked (probably in 1802) on a transaltion of Racine's "Britannicus" (shortly to be edited by Pailer and Nebrig). Along with other women in the Goethe-Schiller circle, Lengefeld has been receiving increased critical attention; critic Gaby Pailer wrote the first full-length scholarly book on her life and work, published in 2009.