born on March 2, 1865 in Vienna, Austria
died on June 21, 1943 in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia
Austrian Romanist
170th birthday on March 2, 2025
Biography
Elise Richter grew up in a very cultured and liberal environment in an upper-middle-class family. She was an avid reader who, after encountering linguistic obstacles while reading Mommsen's History of Rome, expressed the wish to study Indo-Germanic philology or at the very least to receive a Latin textbook as a present. “Yes, if you were a boy!” was how her parents responded. She later summarized the reaction of the Richter girls: “We hated our gender!” At the age of 20, she was finally given a book on Greek grammar; five months later she was already reading Homer in the original.
In 1896, women in Austria were granted the right to take the Matura exams (A levels). In 1897, at the age of 32, Elise Richter passed the examinations as an external student and immediately began studying Romance languages, linguistics, classical philology and German. In 1901, she became the first woman in Austria and Germany to be awarded a doctorate in philosophy. Her dissertation caused a sensation among experts.
Elise Richter was set on an academic career: “[...] I often had the feeling that if I couldn't work (academically), I would burst.” In 1905, she successfully held her habilitation colloquium*, again as the first woman in Austria, but another two years were to pass before she was granted the venia legendi** at the University of Vienna. Anti-Semitism and sexism were the reasons for this delay.
She was an enthusiastic and inspiring university teacher; her publications were of international standing. However, in 1921 she was only offered an untenured position – as associate professor.
Elise Richter said she had never felt it necessary to fight for women's rights, yet from 1922 to 1930 she nevertheless served as chairwoman of the Austrian Association of Academic Women, which she co-founded.
She taught and researched without receiving remuneration until she was expelled from the university in 1938 because she was Jewish.
It is painful to imagine what this highly educated woman had to endure in the final years of her life. In defiance of the political barbarity and despite physical hardship, she continued to devote herself to her academic research until this too became impossible. After being forcibly committed to a nursing home, Elise Richter and her 80-year-old sister were put on a train leaving Vienna for Theresienstadt at 8:25 p.m. on September 9, 1942.
* Necessary step in order to be accepted as a full badge member of the German-speaking research community (added by Ramona Fararo)
** academic teaching authorization
(Text from 1989; translated with DeepL.com; edited by Ramona Fararo, 2025. Please consult the German version for additional information, pictures, sources, videos, and bibliography.)
Quotes
I was 32 years old when I got my Matura. Another ten years of studies passed, and I was 42 when I was given the date of October 23, 1907 for my inaugural lecture in lecture hall 35. After all the trouble I literally jumped for joy on the sidewalk of Karl-Ludwig-Straße when I learned of the date, and Helene was frightened I would sprain my ankle. The trouble – after the dean's office had finally been instructed by the ministry to announce the lecture – was due to my needing to prevent the first lecture by a woman from deteriorating into a social event for an “audience” intent on being entertained and exchanging gossip which in turn would then result in the religious and the nationalist students staging a protest demonstration. I devoted myself entirely to protecting the integrity of my venia* – my most precious treasure – and I became a master of the art of duping journalists and excelled at throwing them out ...
* Venia legendi = academic teaching authorization
If I am to draw the sum of my life, I would say: as a human being, I have received infinitely more than I have given: art, nature, love – I can only cite grateful enjoyment in return. As a teacher, I have given more than I have received, even though I am aware that I have often been inspired by my students' engagement. Although I have no disciples, as a teacher I have had a profession that has brought me unspeakable joy. As a scientist? The immeasurable wealth accumulated by the most exquisite minds over the millennia has poured over me in its inexhaustible richness, and I have – perhaps? – added a small kernel, more seed than fruit. I wanted a lot, but in science, unlike in ethics, the voluisse is not enough. This is my assessment of my achievements – may the objective judge not deem it overly bloated! ...
As a woman, I have given as much as I have received. I was granted access to the path, which is certainly not to be underestimated, but I walked it myself, and here I can say, in an exemplary manner. Because I was aware that a lot depended on the first impression of the first woman with Matura, the first woman at a university, the first woman professor. I gave the women's rights activists an initial piece of evidence they could rely on, precisely because I avoided anything related to women's rights and “militarism” and worked my way forward on the path in a purely objective manner. In the history of the women's movement, my name will therefore retain a certain significance. My life was at times certainly distressing, but it was also full of determination and joy, and it was rich in content. It was worth living. (From the autobiography Summe des Lebens [The Sum of Life])
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