Manuela Vali Hoelterhoff is a German-born American cultural journalist, who was the executive editor of ''Muse'', the arts and culture section of

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

until 2015. She received a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Personal life and education

Manuela V. Hoelterhoff was born April 6, 1949, in

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, to a Latvian mother, Olga Christina Alexandrovna Goertz, a native of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, and a German father, Heinz Alfons Martin Hoelterhoff. She immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1957. Hoelterhoff holds a bachelor's degree from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

, and a master's degree from the Institute of Fine Arts of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Professional career

Hoelterhoff is a commentator and editor whose topics have ranged widely over the contemporary world to include opera and theater, art and architecture, literature and travel, and how animals affect our lives. Her first articles appeared in William F. Buckley's ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

''. There followed a twenty-year stint at ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', where she wrote reviews and served as arts editor, books editor and member of the editorial board. In this period, she was also a founding editor of ''SmartMoney'' magazine, and worked with

Harold Evans Sir Harold Matthew Evans (28 June 192823 September 2020) was a British-American journalist and writer. In his career in his native Britain, he was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1967 to 1981, and its sister title ''The Times'' for a year f ...

on creating Conde Nast Traveler. Hoelterhoff won the annual Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for her 1983 work with ''The Wall Street Journal'', citing "her wide-ranging criticism on the arts and other subjects". In 1998, Alfred A. Knopf published her ''Cinderella & Company: Backstage at the Opera with Cecilia Bartoli'', which was widely reviewed. It was translated into French, German and Dutch and it received positive reviews. In 2000 she was named a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

to research Hitler's opera obsessions. In 2004, Hoelterhoff was hired by Matt Winkler to create a cultural section for

, the company's financial news service. Muse publishes daily on all the arts – from the visual and performing arts to the literary and culinary, plus movies, TV, the art market, cars, gadgets, the environment, travel, and animals. Her current book project is titled “We Called It Hitler Weather: The Fuhrer From Dawn to Dusk." Currently she posts daily to a blog called Daisy Mae at Her Interspecies Cafe,http://www.manuelahoelterhoff.com created with Mike Di Paola. The blog, devoted to animals in a time of change, has posted more than 500 posts.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoelterhoff, Manuela Pulitzer Prize for Criticism winners The Wall Street Journal people Emigrants from West Germany to the United States American people of Latvian descent Hofstra University alumni New York University alumni Living people 1949 births American women journalists American women critics American opera librettists Women opera librettists 21st-century American women