Ferdinand Mainzer (16 January 1871 – 3 January 1943) was a German-Jewish gynaecologist and historical author. Born 16 January 1871,Thomas Corinth, ed., ''Lovis Corinth: eine Dokumentation'', Wasmuth, 1979, p.377 Mainzer wrote his doctoral dissertation on wandering spleen. In the 1890s he worked at the Berlin clinic of the gynecologist Leopold Landau. Mainzer had artistic connections and historical interests. He married Gertrud Sabersky, a student of the artist Walter Leistikow, and his own portrait was painted by Lovis Corinth in 1899. After a hand injury meant that he could no longer perform surgery, he turned to writing about antiquity.Konrad Weber,
Prof. Dr. Dr. Friedrich Erxleben
October 2008. He was interested in

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

, and a friend of the numismatist Edward Gans. His biography of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

was translated into French and English, and widely reviewed. The book inspired Thornton Wilder to write his own novel about Caesar, '' The Ides of March''. Mainzer was a close friend of the Catholic priest Friedrich von Erxleben, who was a member of the Solf Circle of intellectuals involved in the resistance against

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. Mainzer and his family were helped to escape to England by the daughter of Wilhelm and Hanna Solf, the Countess So'oa'emalelagi "Lagi" von Ballestrem-Solf, who escorted them with their jewellery hidden in the lining of her clothes. Mainzer died 3 January 1943 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. His daughter Lucie Manén married Otto John in 1949. He also had a son Max Mainzer (1902–1987) who married Eva Perlis (1908–2006). In May 2021, a portrait of Ferdinand Mainzer by Lovis Corinth was accepted for the nation in lieu of a UK inheritance tax bill."Two UK galleries to share portrait of German doctor who resisted Nazis"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' Corinth also painted a portrait of Max entitled ''Max Mainzer with a Siberian Greyhound'' (1912).

Works

* ''Wandermilz und Splenektomie'', München: J. F. Lehmann, 1892 * 'Das Dekadrachmon von Athen', ''Zeitschrift für Numismatik'', vol. 36 (1926), pp. 37–54 * ''Siciliana aus griechisch-römischer Zeit'', Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930. * ''Clodia: Politik und Liebe auf dem Palatin'', Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1931. * ''Der Kampf um Caesars Erbe'', Leipzig: E.P. Tal, 1934. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul as ''Caesar's mantle; the end of the Roman republic'', New York: Viking, 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mainzer, Ferdinand 1871 births 1943 deaths German gynaecologists 20th-century German historians Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom German male non-fiction writers