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Lily Pringsheim (born Lily Chun: 7 February 1887 – 28 September 1954) 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 ...
politician (
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...
). She served between 1931 and 1933 as an active member of the Hesse Landtag (''parliament''), after which, for reasons of race and politics, she was forced into exile. Pringsheim also worked as a journalist/writer and theatre critic.


Life

Lily Chun was born in the
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
n capital,
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, where she spent her early childhood. The family relocated to Breslau in 1895 and to
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
in 1899. Her father,
Carl Chun Carl Chun or Karl Friedrich Gustav Chun (1 October 1852 – 11 April 1914) was a German marine biologist who worked as a professor at the Universities of Königsberg (1883), Breslau (1891) and Leipzig (1898). He was a pioneer of German oceanogr ...
(1852–1914), was a zoologist and deep sea researcher who was employed as a university professor at
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, Breslau and then
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. Her mother, Lily Vogt, was the daughter of the zoologist-geologist-politician
Carl Vogt August Christoph Carl Vogt (; ; 5 July 1817 – 5 May 1895) was a German scientist, philosopher, popularizer of science, and politician who emigrated to Switzerland. Vogt published a number of notable works on zoology, geology and physiology. A ...
(1817–1895). When she was 16 she was excluded from her school, where the staff found her "exceptionally headstrong" (''... wegen "ausgeprägter Eigenwilligkeit"''). As a young woman Lily Chun supported herself by writing, publishing short stories and (subsequently forgotten) novels. She married Ernst Pringsheim at
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
on 18 March 1907. He was a professor of botany and a member of a leading
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
n family of Jewish provenance. The marriage produced five recorded children, but it ended in divorce in 1921. In 1922 Lily Pringsheim settled with her five children in
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
. She joined the Social Democratic Party (''Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands'' / SPD) in 1921. She attracted attention as a "brilliant, persuasive and forthright public speaker". A particular admirer of her political abilities was the interior minister,
Wilhelm Leuschner Wilhelm Leuschner (15 June 1890, in Bayreuth, Bavaria – 29 September 1944, in Berlin- Plötzensee) was a trade unionist and Social Democratic politician. An early opponent of Nazism, he organized underground resistance in the labour movement. ...
. Between December 1931 and April 1933 she was a member of the Hesse Landtag (''parliament''), serving on many parliamentary committees. In the chamber she spoke out openly against the
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 ...
of the populist
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
and was rewarded with death threats. She was also the first in
Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
to put her signature to a call for a "reduction of the penal provisions in §218 of the constitution", which concerned the country's longstanding anti-abortion laws. The
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 ...
s took power in January 1933 and lost little time in transforming the country into a one-
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
. After the
Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...
which occurred at the end of February 1933, state mandated anti-Semitism became rapidly institutionalised. Pringsheim and her children were placed under police surveillance. The family were persecuted by the authorities not just because of their political activities but also because the authorities had determined that they were "half-Jewish". Two of her sons had to break off their law studies. In July 1933, believing that she was scheduled for imminent arrest by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
, she fled with three of her children via
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
to
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 ...
in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
which at this stage was still independent. From Prague she moved on to
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. ...
where she remained only briefly, before making her home in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
. In
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
she became involved with the local branch of the League of the Rights of Man. As a result of this connection she was for several months during the first part of 1937, despite living in a very small apartment, the rather improbable landlady of
Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...
, on the run from France where he had acquired a string of convictions for petty crime and, more recently, gained the status of an army deserter. He slept on the balcony. Genet later became a doyen of the French literary establishment. As a 27 year old asylum seeker in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
, Pringsheim found him a "highly literate and memorable autodidact ith anuncontrollable thirst for knowledge". Later, when Genet's literary archive was opened up to scholars, several rather stiff and literary love letters were found that he had written to Pringsheim, but he was more than twenty years her junior, and Genet's more serious "love interest" at the time was almost certainly Anna Bloch, the wife of an industrialist who had imprudently recruited Genet to teach his young wife French. During 1938 the
German army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
incrementally invaded Czechoslovakia. Pringsheim, now using a Czechoslovak name, became a political refugee again, fleeing to London. By 1940 she had moved on again, this time to
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
where she joined up with her eldest daughter, Marianne, who had already settled there. In 1941 she undertook what was intended to be a brief visit to the
United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
. She was caught out in December when the United States unexpectedly (to her) joined in the European war as a response to the
Pearl Harbor attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the ti ...
. It became impossible to travel to Peru. Her visit to the country lasted seven years during which she engaged in teaching and social work with a Quäker Organisation. At one stage she was employed as a radio presenter. She also became a much sought after speaker on behalf of the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
. Lily Pringsheim returned to
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
in 1947. While she was in the US her son Johannes was killed. Unlike his older brother, Karl Peter, who had followed his mother to London, Johannes had stayed in Czechoslovakia after the German invasion and become a resistance activist. In 1943 he was summoned to London by the
Czechoslovak government in exile The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia (; ), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee (; ), initially by British diplomatic rec ...
. It is believed that he crossed Switzerland on foot, but in France he was caught by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
and placed on a train destined for
Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...
. Little more is known of his fate, although there is a report that he was killed in the
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
area while jumping off the train. Lily Pringsheim came home to Darmstadt in 1950, making her home at a top floor apartment alongside the Luisenplatz. She taught conversational English and French at the local school for the rest of her life. There was talk of a return to politics, but she found she was unable to gain any sort of a foothold in the Darmstadt branch of the post-war
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...
. She died at Darmstadt in 1954 having never got over the death of her son, Johannes.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pringsheim, Lily Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians Members of the Landtag of Hesse-Darmstadt Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Politicians from Königsberg Politicians from Darmstadt 1887 births 1954 deaths