Gabriele Haefs

Haefs was born in Wachtendonk to Johann Heinrich Haefs and Annie Pasch, and married the Norwegian novelist Ingvar Ambjørnsen in 1985.^[1] She graduated with a doctorate in folkloristics from the University of Hamburg in 1982.^[2]

Haefs is credited for having discovered Jostein Gaarder's novel Sophie's World, which she translated into German language, and eventually became a worldwide bestseller. She was decorated Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit in 2011.^[3] She was awarded the Willy Brandt Prize in 2000.^[4]