Aenne Goldschmidt ( Michel; 8 November 1920 – 24 January 2020) was a Swiss expressionist dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue. She was the first dance artist to receive the

National Prize of the German Democratic Republic The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...

Biography

Aenne Michel was born on 8 November 1920 in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, Switzerland. She trained at Emmy Sauerbeck's dance school in Bern and worked as a freelance dance artist. In the 1930s and 1940s she was active in

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

circles, even after the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

was banned by the Swiss government. In 1944 she and her husband, musicologist

Harry Goldschmidt Harry Goldschmidt (17 June 1910 in Basel – 19 November 1986) was a Swiss musicologist. Life 1910–1949: Basel, Weimar Republic, France, West Africa, Switzerland Goldschmidt was born in Basel on 17 June 1910, the second child of Siegfried ...

, were among the founding members of the

Swiss Party of Labour The Swiss Party of Labour (german: Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz; french: Parti Suisse du Travail – Parti Ouvrier et Populaire; it, Partito Svizzero del Lavoro – Partito Operaio e Popolare; rm, Partida svizra da la lavur) is a communist pa ...

. Due to their communist views they left Switzerland and moved to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

in 1949. Later that year she choreographed a piece for the

World Festival of Youth and Students The World Festival of Youth and Students is an international event organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and the International Union of Students after 1947. History The festival has been held regularly since 1947 as an eve ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. In 1952 she was awarded the

for her work at the 1951 World Festival in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, becoming the first dancer to receive the national award from the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

government. From 1951 to 1959 Goldschmidt served as director of the East German State Folk Art Ensemble's dance company. Between 1967 and 1970 she published a three volume manual of German folk dance. In 1994, after the fall of the Communist government in East Germany and the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, Goldschmidt and her husband returned to Switzerland and settled in Riehen. She died in January 2020 at the age of 99.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldschmidt, Aenne 1920 births 2020 deaths People from Bern Expressionist dancers Swiss choreographers Swiss female dancers Swiss communists Swiss women choreographers 20th-century dancers Swiss emigrants to Germany