Jenny Weleminsky (''née'' Elbogen; 12 June 1882 4 February 1957) Reference: HO 294/558/6122B. was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-speaking

Esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

who was born in Thalheim, Lower Austria, and brought up there and in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Some of her translations of works by

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

and other notable Austrian writers were published in the literary magazine '' Literatura Mondo (Literary World)'', which became home to an influential group of authors collectively known as ''Budapeŝto skolo'', the

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

school of Esperanto literature.

Early life and education

Jenny Elbogen was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family on 12 June 1882 at Schloss Thalheim,Schloss Thalheim is in the village of Thalheim (Kapelln), today a part of Kapelln, Sankt Pölten-Land District; See :de:Liste der denkmalgeschützten Objekte in Kapelln#Denkmäler,

Jakob Prandtauer Jakob Prandtauer (baptized in Stanz bei Landeck (Tyrol) on 16 July 1660; died in Sankt Pölten on 16 September 1726) was an Austrian Baroque architect. Career Prandtauer was responsible for the baroque refurbishment of medieval abbeys in Austr ...

. After restoratio
it reopened in 2016 as a luxury hotel.
/ref> Lower Austria, the youngest child of Guido Elbogen, who became President of the Anglo-Austrian Bank in

, and his wife Rosalie (Ali) (''née'' Schwabacher), whom he married in 1868 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She had two sisters and a brother ( Heinrich). Jenny Elbogen was educated at home by a Miss Allen, a governess from

Devon, England Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. She became sufficiently fluent in English to translate

Axel Munthe Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe (31 October 1857 – 11 February 1949) was a Swedish-born physician and psychiatrist, best known as the author of '' The Story of San Michele'', an autobiographical account of his life and work. He spoke several langua ...

's memoir ''

The Story of San Michele ''The Story of San Michele'' is a book of memoirs by Swedish physician Axel Munthe (October 31, 1857 – February 11, 1949) first published in 1929 by British publisher John Murray. Written in English, it was a bestseller in numerous language ...

'' from English to

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

for publication in 1935.

Political views

Politically she had very determinate and fixed views, many inherited from her father. Jenny Elbogen was an ardent Habsburg monarchist and wished to see the Habsburg heir,

Otto von Habsburg Otto von Habsburg (, ; 20 November 1912 4 July 2011) was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary from 1916 until the dissolution of the empire in November 1918. In 1922, he became the pretender to the former thrones, head of the House of Habs ...

, restored to the Austrian throne after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. However, she was also an internationalist, as demonstrated by her enthusiasm for Esperanto. She opposed the

Zionist movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...

's call for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people and ceased all contact with two of her daughters after they left Austria to live in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. Her father, Guido Elbogen, had donated money towards the construction of a new synagogue (built in 1913) in

Sankt Pölten Sankt Pölten (; Central Bavarian: ''St. Pödn''), mostly abbreviated to the official name St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the States of Austria, State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 Januar ...

Marriage and family life

After her father died in 1918 she inherited Schloss Thalheim; her father had bought it in 1882 just before she was born. She lived there and in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(which until 1918 was part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) with her husband Friedrich ("Fritz") Weleminsky; they married at Schloss Thalheim on 4 December 1905. He was a lecturer in Hygiene (now called

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

) at the German University, Prague and developed ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky'', a treatment for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. The couple ran Schloss Thalheim as model dairy farm. Facing

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

persecution for being Jewish, they found sanctuary in 1939 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

where she continued to translate books into Esperanto, wrote poetry and taught English to other refugees. After the

and the death of her husband, Jenny Weleminsky spent several years in Vienna, returning eventually to London, where she died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

on 4 February 1957, aged 74. She and her husband had four children together. Two of their daughters emigrated in the early 1930s to Mandatory Palestine where they took new names – Eliesabeth (born 1909) became Jardenah, and Dorothea (born 1912) was known as Leah. Their eldest daughter, Marianne (born 1906), and their son, AntonAnton was referred to as "Antonin" in official

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

documents. (born 1908), moved to Britain just before the Second World War.

Publications

Translations from German

Novel

Alexander Roda Roda Alexander Friedrich Ladislaus Roda Roda (13 April 1872 – 20 August 1945) was an Austrian writer and satirist. Biography Roda Roda was born as Šandor Friedrich Rosenfeld in Drnowitz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now Drnovice, Czech Republi ...

Play

, translated by Jenny Weleminsky. '' Sappho: tragedio en kvin aktoj'', Vienna

Poetry

* Franz Grillparzer, translated by Jenny Weleminsky. ''Poemoj de Grillparzer'' (''Poems of Grillparzer'') * Franz Grillparzer, translated by Jenny Weleminsky. "La ora felo: drama poemo en tri partoj" * Franz Grillparzer, translated by Jenny Weleminsky. "La praavino: kvinakta tragedio", Vienna * Franz Grillparzer, translated by Jenny Weleminsky. "La sonĝo kiel vivo: drama fabelo en kvar aktoj", Vienna * Franz Grillparzer, translated by Jenny Weleminsky. "Hanibalo: fragmento el nefinita dramo", Vienna * Franz Grillparzer: "Respondo", * Anastasius Grün: "La epitafo", translated *

Friedrich Halm Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen () (2 April 180622 May 1871) was an Austrian dramatist, poet and novella writer of the Austrian Biedermeier period and beyond, and is more generally known under his pseudonym Friedrich Halm. ...

: "Kio estas amo?", translated *

Johann Gabriel Seidl Johann Gabriel Seidl (21 June 1804 – 18 July 1875) was an Austrian archeologist, poet, storyteller and dramatist. He wrote the lyrics to "" This was the 1854 version of the Austrian Imperial Anthem, music by Joseph Haydn (""). Born in Vi ...

: "La majstro kaj lia verko", translated

Translations from English

Novel

: '' Romano de San Michele'' (''The Story of San Michele''), translated by Jenny Weleminsky.

Literatura Mondo ''Literatura Mondo'' ('Literary World') was a literary Esperanto Periodical literature, periodical and publishing house in Budapest, Hungary between 1922 and 1949. It became the focal point of the so-called Budapest School of Esperanto literature ...

, Budapest, 1935, 511pp.Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

Early life and education

Political views

Marriage and family life

Publications

Translations from German

Novel

Play

Poetry

Translations from English

Novel

Notes

References