How did this interesting woman develop such an interest for Serbian poetry?
– Special merit for presenting the culture of the Balkan Slavs, especially Serb culture to Germans, must certainly go to an author from Halle, Therese Albertine Louise Robinson, born von Jakob, alias Talfj. She also came in touch with Serbian poetry in a roundabout way, via Russia. From the ages of 10 to 18 she lived with her family in Russia. That is where she developed her first interest for the Slavs. Upon her family’s return to Halle, Therese studied German literature. She also wrote novels and stories. In the spirit of the current literary fashion, she was interested in folk literature as well. – She met Vuk Karadžić in 1823/24, in Halle. Later on, when she had acquired Leipzig’s edition of Serbian folk songs, she began to study these songs intensively. On April 12th, 1824, she wrote to Goethe and sent him her translations of songs from the Kosovo Cycle and some other non-historical songs. Goethe was fascinated and encouraged her to continue translating. Talfj published her transl
