Bertha Badt-Strauss (7 December 1885 – 20 February 1970) was a German writer and

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. She wrote for numerous Jewish publications in Berlin and the United States, and edited and translated the works of many other writers.

Biography

Bertha Badt was born in 1885 in Breslau to Benno Badt, a philologist, and Martha (née Guttman), a teacher. She studied literature and philosophy in Breslau, Berlin and Munich, and with her thesis on

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff Baroness Anna Elisabeth Franziska Adolphine Wilhelmine Louise Maria von Droste zu Hülshoff, known as Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (; 10 January 179724 May 1848), was a 19th-century German Biedermeier poet, novelist, and composer of Classical ...

, became one of the first women in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

to receive a doctoral degree. She lived in Berlin with her husband , an educator, from 1913, and their son Albrecht was born in 1921. Shortly after Albrecht's birth, Bertha developed

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. Badt-Strauss was a

and an active member of the Jewish community in Berlin. She wrote articles for a variety of Jewish newspapers, including ''Jüdische Rundschau'', ''Der Jude'', ''Israelitische Familienblatt'', ''Blätter des Jüdischen Frauenbundes'' and ''Der Morgen'', and contributed to two Jewish encyclopedias, ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'' and '. She was also a prolific editor and translator of works by other writers, including Droste-Hülshoff,

Achim von Arnim Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism. ...

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

, Fanny Lewald,

Hermann Cohen Hermann Cohen (; ; 4 July 1842 – 4 April 1918) was a German philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century". Bio ...

Rahel Varnhagen Rahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen () (née Levin, later Robert; 19 May 1771 – 7 March 1833) was a German writer who hosted one of the most prominent salons in Europe during the late-18th and early-19th centuries. She is the subject of a celebr ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

Süßkind von Trimberg Susskind (German language, German ''Süßkind'' "sweet child", variants ''Suskind'', ''Suskin'', ''Siskind'', ''Ziskind'', ''Ziskin'', ''Siskin'', etc.) is a mostly Jewish surname of German Jews, German origin. History Süsskind in the German medi ...

, Profiat Duran and

Leon of Modena Leon of Modena (, 1571–1648) was a Jewish scholar born in Venice to a family whose ancestors migrated to Italy after an expulsion of Jews from France. Life He was an intelligent child and a respected rabbi in Venice. However, his reputation wi ...

. She wrote a book-length unpublished biography of German writer Elise Reimarus. Badt-Strauss migrated from Nazi Germany to the United States in 1939. She settled in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, where her husband was a professor at

Centenary College of Louisiana Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi Rive ...

. She published a biography of the Zionist

Jessie Sampter Jessie Sampter (March 22, 1883 – 1938) was a Jewish educator, poet, and Zionist pioneer. She was born in New York City and immigrated to Palestine in 1919. Biography Jessie Ethel Sampter was born in New York City to Rudolph Sampter, a New ...

titled ''White Fire: The Life and Works of Jessie Sampter'', and continued to write for a variety of Jewish-American publications: ''

Aufbau ''Aufbau'' () is a term which was used in publications from 1919 to 1947 in the German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is ...

'', ''The Jewish Way'', ''The Menorah Journal'', ''The Reconstructionist'', ''The National Jewish Monthly'', ''Hadassah Newsletter'' and ''Women's League Outlook''. She died in 1970 in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badt-Strauss, Bertha 1885 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century German women writers American women non-fiction writers German Zionists Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish women writers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Writers from Wrocław American Zionists Jewish translators Jewish encyclopedists Women encyclopedists 20th-century German translators