16. Anne Frank wrote movingly on everything from life, love and the horrors of Nazism, despite the fact she was a teenage girl in hiding
Many people dream of becoming successful writers, though few actually manage it. Anne Frank did, however. What’s more, she penned her classic diary while she was barely in her teens. Tragically, of course, she didn’t live long enough to see it sell millions of copies around the world or hailed as a classic. Along with most of her family, she was murdered by the Nazi regime when she was just 14, a true literary talent extinguished far too soon.
Though she was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1929, Anne lived most of her life in Amsterdam. It was here that the Frank family was forced into hiding when the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and started persecuting the native Jewish population from the summer of 1942 onwards. Whilst hiding in the attic of a family friend’s house, Anne started to write what would become her famous diary. In it, she mused on the boredom of a life in hiding, as well as putting her personal thoughts on love, life and philosophy down on paper. However, her plans to write a novel were cut short. The family were found and, in November of 1944, Anne and her sister Margot were sent to a concentration camp and died a few months later.
After the war, Anne’s writings were published in The Diary of a Young Girl. The book has sold millions of copies and translated into many different languages. Notably, it’s been praised not just for its historical significance but also for its literary merits. Anne was evidently a genuine literary talent and wise beyond her years. She was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the past century and the Amsterdam home she hid in remains of Europe’s biggest visitor attractions.
