Annemarie Selinko was born in Vienna in 1914. She was a successful journalist and novelist. In 1938 she moved to Copenhagen, and subsequently lived in Stockholm, Paris and London, before returning to Copenhagen. D�sir�e was a huge best-seller with over a million copies sold and in 1956 was turned into a film starring Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons. Annemarie Selinko died in Copenhagen in 1986.