Berta Zuckerkandl-Szeps (born Bertha Szeps; 13 April 1864 – 16 October 1945) was an Austrian writer, journalist and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

. Bertha Szeps was the daughter of

Galician Jewish Galician Jews or Galitzianers () are members of the subgroup of Ashkenazi Jews originating and developed in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and Bukovina from contemporary western Ukraine (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Ternopil Oblasts) and fro ...

liberal newspaper publisher

Moritz Szeps Moritz Szeps (5 November 1835, Busk – 9 August 1902, Vienna) was an Austrian newspaper tycoon who founded and published the daily papers ''Neues Wiener Tagblatt'' (1867-1886), ''Wiener Tagblatt'' (1886-1894), and the first popular-science ma ...

and grew up in Vienna. She was married to the Hungarian anatomist

Emil Zuckerkandl Emil Zuckerkandl (1 September 1849 Győr, Hungary – 28 May 1910, Vienna, Austria-Hungary) was an Austrian-Hungarian anatomist who held the first chair for anatomy at the University of Vienna as of 1888. Biography Zuckerkandl was born in ...

. In 1886 she married Zuckerkandl, who was then

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

professor of medicine. In 1888 the couple moved to Vienna, where he had obtained a professorship. From 1888 until 1938, Zuckerkandl led a major

literary salon A salon is a gathering of people held by a host. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: ''aut delectare aut prodesse''). Salons in the tradition of the Fren ...

in Vienna, an informal weekly get-together, originally from a villa in Nußwaldgasse,

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th Districts of Vienna, district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential bui ...

, later in the Oppolzergasse near the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

. Many famous Viennese artists and personalities, including

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, libretto, librettist, Poetry, poet, Playwdramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, th ...

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. Zweig was raised in V ...

Egon Friedell Egon Friedell (born Egon Friedmann; 21 January 1878, Vienna – 16 March 1938, Vienna) was a prominent Austrian cultural historian, playwright, actor and Kabarett performer, journalist and theatre critic. Friedell has been described as a polyma ...

and others, such as French sculptor

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

when in Vienna, frequented the salon. Protégés of the salon included Anton Kolig and of the . Her sister Sophie (1862–1937) was married to Paul Clemenceau, brother of French President

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A physician turned journalist, he played a central role in the poli ...

, which meant that she also had strong ties with Parisian artistic circles. She translated a number of plays from French to German and was a co-founder of the

Salzburg Music Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

. Due to

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938, she was forced to emigrate: first to Paris and later to

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. She returned to Paris in 1945 and died there that same autumn. She is buried at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

Works

*''My life and History''. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1939. Translated by John Sommerfield *''Die Pflege der Kunst in Österreich 1848–1898.'' * ''Dekorative Kunst und Kunstgewerbe.'' Wien, 1900 * ''Zeitkunst Wien 1901–1907.'' Hugo Heller, Wien, 1908 * '' Ich erlebte 50 Jahre Weltgeschichte''. Bermann-Fischer Verlag, Stockholm, 1939 * ''Clemenceau tel que je l'ai connu''. Algier, 1944 * ''Österreich intim. Erinnerungen 1892–1942''.

Propyläen ''Die Propyläen'' was a periodical begun in July 1798 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his friend Johann Heinrich Meyer. Impetus During the journal's short, three-year existence its various contributors and editors, for example, shown in essay ...

, Frankfurt/Main, 1970 (paperback edition: Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main, 1988; )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuckerkandl, Berta 1864 births 1945 deaths Austrian journalists Austrian women journalists Austrian salon-holders Jews and Judaism in Vienna Austrian Jews Austrian women writers Writers from Vienna Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Austrian art critics Austrian women art critics Writers from Austria-Hungary Art critics from Austria-Hungary Austrian emigrants to France

Works

Further reading

See also

References