- Born
- Died
- Birth nameKarl Friedrich May
- Karl May was born on February 25, 1842 in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Kingdom of Saxony [now Saxony, Germany]. He was a writer, known for Caravan of Death (1920), The Desperado Trail (1965) and Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand (1966). He was married to Klara Plöhn and Emma Pollmer. He died on March 30, 1912 in Radebeul, Kingdom of Saxony [now Saxony], Germany.
- SpousesKlara Plöhn(March 30, 1903 - March 30, 1912) (his death)Emma Pollmer(August 17, 1880 - January 14, 1903) (divorced)
- Used numerous pseudonyms, including Capitan Ramon Diaz de la Escosura, D. Jam, Emma Pollmer (name of his first wife), Ernst von Linden, Hobble-Frank, Karl Hohenthal, M. Gisela, P. van der Löwen, Prinz Muhamel Lautréamont and Richard Plöhn (a friend).
- May was a notorious self-promoter and a 'Munchhausen'-style teller of tall tales. He awarded himself a false doctorate. He claimed to have visited the Wild West and the Orient (but never did). He claimed to be able to converse in 1,200 languages or dialects (a clearly preposterous notion). His most outrageous claim was to be an honorary Apache chief with a following of 35,000 warriors (the entire Apache nation never numbered as many at any given time...).
- Spent time in jail for theft on several occasions between 1865 and 1874.
- An estimated 100-200 million copies of his books have been printed.
- Although he wrote many adventure stories about the American "Old West", he had not only never been to that area but had never even been to America.
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