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Fiorenza Cossotto
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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born on November 3, 1874 in Honfleur, France
died on April 26, 1945 in Château-Gontier, France
French writer
150th birthday on November 3, 2024
The wedding of the daughter of a lawyer, Lucie Delarue, to the well-known orientalist Dr. Mardrus was a social scandal - the young bride was married in her cycling clothes. Her husband called her the Almond Princess in praise of the almond-toned beauty of her body, and he was not initially at all bothered by her affection for Natalie Barney, the famous lover of women who had broken many hearts in Paris. The marriage later ended in divorce, but the two women were to remain close friends even after their romantic relationship had ended.
Lucie Delarue-Mardrus was one of the most important Parisian contacts for Natalie Barney when the American writer moved to France in 1902; she introduced her to Paul Valéry and André Gide. She also discovered the house in rue Jacob where Barney would hold her famous Friday salons and where she founded the Académie des Femmes, thereby creating one of the “most productive female subcultures of the 20th century” (Alexandra Busch). Delarue-Mardrus…read more
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born on July 18, 1724 in Munich
died on April 23, 1780 in Dresden
German composer, poet and painter
300th birthday on July 18, 2024
In her memoirs, the singer Elisabeth Mara described her encounter with the Electress: "In 1767 she came to the Leipzig Fair. I was fortunate enough to please her and was soon asked to come to Dresden to take on a role at the opera theater. The Electress received me kindly, and when I expressed my concern that I had never set foot on a stage, she took it upon herself to help. She had composed the music herself. Every morning, she would instruct me. As far as my positions and gestures were concerned, she had little trouble, because my dancing instructor had already drummed them into me, claiming that I would certainly need them one day. But I had not yet mastered the recitative, and my progress there I owe entirely to her."
These few lines reveal a great deal about the Electress: she was supportive and she was well versed in musical matters. The eldest daughter of the Elector of Bavaria and Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, she received her initial musical training in…read more
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Gerda Lerner
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Maj Sjöwall
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Adèle Hugo
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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born on December 7, 1906 in Rostock
died April 22, 2005 in Munich
German translator of Disney comics
115th birthday on December 7, 2021
Erika Fuchs, the first and for a long time the only translator of Disney comics into German, is revered far beyond the comic scene for her congenial, witty and subtle linguistic creations. Elfriede Jelinek wished her the Büchner Prize, and to Elke Heidenreich she was "a linguistically powerful teacher who also taught me to understand the absurdities of life early on."
Her career as a translator began in 1951, when the 44-year-old art historian with a doctorate and mother of two adolescent sons drove from Schwarzenbach an der Saale to Stuttgart to acquire translation jobs at Readers Digest. She dreamed of translating sophisticated English literature, but instead was presented with a stack of Mickey Mouse magazines. As the daughter of an upper-middle-class family, she was convinced "that this kind of thing wouldn't work at all in Germany."
Nevertheless, she took the well-paid job and became editor-in-chief of the newly founded Ehapa publishing house. When selecting stories,…read more
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born on March 20, 1888 in Glatz, Silesia, Germany (today Klodzko, Poland)
died on April 22, 1965 in West Berlin, West Germany
German sculptor and graphic artist
60th anniversary of her death on March 20, 2025
When she had her breakthrough at the age of 27, her sculptures were considered something sensationally new: she chose to depict young animals. Sintenis had a deep aversion to the monumentality characteristic of the massive works of previous sculptors; her own sculptures were rarely more than 20 centimeters high. The public loved them – suitable for display in any home, they were the ideal gift item and an immediate bestseller.
She did not have to compete with male colleagues, because she remained within the narrow confines of what was acceptable for women who chose to pursue the ’unfeminine’ profession of sculptor. Her sculptures were described as “toys from a box of playthings” by the art historian Julius Meier-Graefe. While he conceded that her work was indeed innovative, he concluded that “she is an artist because she remains feminine, childlike.”
Despite all the belittling, Renée Sintenis was one of the most famous and successful sculptors of the 1920s and 1930s.…read more
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Katia Mann
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Christine Busta
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Luise Adolpha Le Beau
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Tony Werntgen
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Ginger Rogers
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Katharina von Siena
This biography is not yet available in English.
You can find the German version here.
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Born 25 April 1875 in Innsbruck
Died 15 May 1959 in Innsbruck
Cofounder of the Social Democratic women’s movement of Tyrol and the first Social Democratic woman in the Tyrolean Parliament.
50th anniversary of death on 15 May 2009
Maria Ducia was one of the most important women in the Social Democratic women’s movement of Tyrol. She called for the political participation of women at a time when it was against the law for them even to form political associations, let alone vote. In the national parliamentary elections of 1907 all males over 24 were granted the general, equal and direct franchise. Women had to struggle another eleven years; not until 1918 did they gain the right to vote and run for elected office.
In 1910 the “Action Committee of the Free Political Women’s Organisation” was founded. Maria Ducia was involved from the beginning, first as its secretary and after 1911 as its chairwoman. She is mentioned as a politically active woman for the first time in reports of the “Volkszeitung” from 30 May and 15 June 1910. In 1911 she called for active and passive voting rights for all women. She spoke out forcefully and eloquently for woman suffrage at the first Austria-wide International Women’s Day…read more
