Elsie Attenhofer (born 21 February 1909 in

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, died 16 September 1999 in

Bassersdorf Bassersdorf (, High Alemannic: ''Baserschtoorff'') is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Zürich, located in the district of Bülach, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal''). History The name, mentioned in 1155 as ''Bazzelstorf ...

) was a Swiss cabaret artiste, actress, writer and performer of monologues.

Life and work

Her parents were hoteliers in

. In 1931, she became one of the first Swiss women to hold a private pilot's licence. Her first job was as a secretary to a

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

. In 1934, she joined the Cabaret Cornichon, known throughout Switzerland for its caustic satire, and she remained an important member of the company until 1942. Her stage partners included Max Werner Lenz and Voli Geiler. She married the

germanist German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, German literature, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on Culture ...

, Karl Schmid in 1940: there were two children from the marriage, a son and a daughter, born in 1942 and 1943 respectively. In 1943, she wrote the period piece, ''Wer wirft den ersten Stein?'' (Who will throw the first stone?) – an indictment against

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Switzerland. However, it was considered too controversial by the

Schauspielhaus Zürich The Schauspielhaus Zürich () is one of the most prominent and important theatres in the history of German-speaking theater. It is also known as "Pfauenbühne" (Peacock Stage). The large theatre has 750 seats. The also operates three stages ...

, a view shared soon afterwards by the Basler Stadttheater. It was not until October 1944, with Hitler’s downfall looming, that the play was first performed (to rave reviews) by an ad hoc company at a private theatre in Basel. With the war over, she immediately went to Germany, where she met the master of political innuendo,

Werner Finck Werner Finck (2 May 1902 – 31 July 1978) was a German ''Kabarett'' comedian, actor and author. Not politically motivated by his own admission but just a "convinced individualist", he became one of Germany's leading cabaret artists under the co ...

. He engaged her to appear at his theatre, ‘Die Mausefalle’, (The Mousetrap) in Stuttgart, but – ever the individualist – Attenhofer did not want to lose her independence. Instead she wrote her ‘One-Woman-Show’, a compilation of the best of the Cornichon sketches. Leaving her family behind, she toured Europe with it in the 1970s, performing in four languages.Weltwoche 2010-10-14 p. 57 In her 1989

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

, ''Réserve du Patron'', Attenhofer held an imaginary conversation with her late husband about their lives. In 1990 she was awarded the Oberrheinischen Kulturpreis by the Goethe Foundation in Basel; eight years later she was honoured with the gold medal of the

Canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

for her understanding of democracy and her humanity.

Filmography

External links

References

''The above contains some information translated from the article in the German Wikipedia at'' :de:Elsie Attenhofer {{DEFAULTSORT:Attenhofer, Elsie 1909 births 1999 deaths Swiss women artists Swiss stage actresses Swiss writers Swiss film actresses People from Bülach District 20th-century Swiss actresses 20th-century Swiss artists