Franziska Christiane Johanna Friederike "Fanny" Tarnow (17 December 1779, Güstrow – 4 July 1862, Dessau) was a German author.

[3] After her father lost his property, the family moved to Neu-Buckow and Fanny became a governess, first at Rügen for four years then at Rohlstorff.

In 1805 she began publishing her journals anonymously and made contact with cultural figures including Johann Friedrich Rochlitz, Julius Eduard Hitzig, Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Rosa Maria Assing, Rahel and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense.

From 1816 to 1818, she lived with a childhood friend in Saint Petersburg, where she met Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, August von Kotzebue and Count Jacob Johann Sievers.

[6] She then temporarily lost her sight due to illness and so in 1829 she moved to stay in Weißenfels with her sister Betty.