Karl May

Karl Friedrich May (1842–1912) was a German author renowned for his adventure novels set in the American Old West and the Orient, featuring characters like Winnetou, Old Shatterhand, and Kara Ben Nemsi, often narrated in the first person. Born into poverty, he faced early hardships including imprisonment for theft and fraud, turned to writing during his incarceration, and achieved massive popularity with his 'Travel Tales' from the 1890s onward. In his later works, he emphasized themes of humanism, tolerance, and pacifism.