Willy Corsari

Wilhelmina Angela Schmidt (26 December 1897 – 11 May 1998), known by her stage name and pen name Willy Corsari, was a Dutch writer, actress and composer. She is noted for her detective fiction and has been termed the Dutch Agatha Christie. Born in Jette, a municipality of Brussels, the daughter of a singer and a musician, she spent an itinerant childhood living in the Dutch East Indies, Germany and the Netherlands. Corsari developed as a writer at an early age, being first published at age ten. In 1914, she had her musical debut at the cabaret , performing on stage until 1932. At the same time, she developed her writing career.

In 1927, she published her first three books, including (Crime without Mistakes). Many more followed. She also produced plays for the stage and radio, and, in 1972 an album of songs that she wrote and composed entitled (Songs in the Twilight). During the Second World War, she gave a German deserter refuge and was consequentially imprisoned in Scheveningen, although released due to insufficient evidence. After the war, Corsari continued to publish and reached a peak in 1958 with over 200,000 copies of her omnibus sold in a year. She continued to write, producing (Playing with Death) in 1983, although by that time her output had reduced to very low levels. She was made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1990 and died in Amstelveen in 1998. Provided by Wikipedia