Elizabeth von Arnim was an English author who was born Mary Annette Beauchamp on August 31, 1866, and died on February 9, 1941. She was born in Australia and married a German nobleman. Her first books are set in Germany. She was made Countess von Arnim-Schlagenthin by her first marriage, and Countess Russell by her second marriage to Elizabeth Russell. Following the death of her first husband, she had an affair with writer H. G. Wells for three years. She then married Frank Russell, who is the older brother of philosopher and Nobel Prize winner Bertrand Russell. She was related to the author Katherine Mansfield, who was born in New Zealand. In her early years, she was known as May, but in her first book, she was called Elizabeth, which is what her friends and family, eventually, called her. The works she did are credited to Elizabeth von Arnim. She only wrote one book under the name Alice Cholmondeley, which came out in 1917 and was called Christine. She was born at her family's home on Kirribilli Point in Sydney, Australia. Her parents were Henry Herron Beauchamp (1825 1907) and Elizabeth Weiss Lassetter, also known as "Louey."