Jenny Weleminsky (''née'' Elbogen; 12 June 1882 4 February 1957) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-speaking Esperantist and translator who was born in Thalheim, Lower Austria and brought up there and in Vienna. Some of her translations of works by Franz Grillparzer 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 school of Esperanto literature.

Early life and education

Jenny Elbogen was born into a Jewish family on 12 June 1882 at Schloss Thalheim,Schloss Thalheim is in the village of Thalheim (Kapelln), today a part of

Kapelln Kapelln is a market municipality in the Sankt Pölten-Land district, Lower Austria, Austria. 10.29% of the municipality are forested. Kapelln is subdivided into the Katastralgemeinde A cadastral community or cadastral municipality, is a Cadastre ...

, Sankt Pölten-Land District; See :de:Liste der denkmalgeschützten Objekte in Kapelln#Denkmäler, Jakob Prandtauer. After restoratio
it reopened in 2016 as a luxury hotel.
/ref> Lower Austria, the youngest child of Guido Elbogen (1845, Jungbrunzlau1918, Schloss Thalheim) who became President of the Anglo-Austrian Bank in Vienna, and his wife Rosalie (Ali) (''née'' Schwabacher; 1850, Paris 1940, Sartrouville, Île-de-France), whom he married in 1868 in Paris. She had two sisters (Antoinette (1871–1901) and Helene (1878–1882), who died in infancy); and a brother (

Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

, also known as Henri; 1872–1927). Jenny Elbogen was educated at home by a Miss Allen, a governess from Devon, England. She became sufficiently fluent in English to translate

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

'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 ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

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, restored to the Austrian throne after the Second World War. However, she was also an internationalist, as demonstrated by her enthusiasm for Esperanto. She opposed the Zionist movement's call for the establishment of a

homeland for the Jewish people A homeland for the Jewish people is an idea rooted in Jewish history, religion, and culture. The Jewish aspiration to return to Zion, generally associated with divine redemption, has suffused Jewish religious thought since the destruction o ...

and ceased all contact with two of her daughters after they left Austria to live in Mandatory Palestine. 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 State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 January 2020. St. Pölten ...

Marriage and family life

After Guido Elbogen died in 1918 Jenny inherited Schloss Thalheim; her father had bought it in 1882 just before she was born. She lived there and in Prague (which until 1918 was part of Austria-Hungary) with her husband Friedrich ("Fritz") Weleminsky (1868, Golčův Jeníkov1945, London); they married at Schloss Thalheim on 4 December 1905. He was a lecturer in Hygiene (now called

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

) at the German University, Prague and developed ''tuberculomucin Weleminsky'', a treatment for tuberculosis. The couple ran Schloss Thalheim as model dairy farm. Facing Nazi persecution for being Jewish, they found sanctuary in 1939 in the United Kingdom where she continued to translate books into Esperanto, wrote poetry and taught English to other refugees. After the Second World War and the death of her husband, Jenny Weleminsky spent several years in Vienna, returning eventually to London, where she died of breast cancer 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 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

* Franz Grillparzer, 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 Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg, also known under the name Anastasius Grün (11 April 180612 September 1876), was an Austrian poet and liberal politician from Carniola, a former Habsburg crown land in today's Slovenia. Biography He was born ...

: "La epitafo", translated * 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 "Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze unsern Kaiser, unser Land!" This was the 1854 version of the Austrian I ...

: "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 and publishing house in Budapest, Hungary between 1922 and 1949. It became the focal point of the so-called Budapest School of Esperanto literature. It was founded by T ...

, Budapest, 1935, 511pp.Google Books">

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weleminsky, Jenny 1882 births 1957 deaths 20th-century Austrian poets 20th-century Austrian women writers 20th-century Austrian translators Austrian Esperantists Austrian Jews Austrian translators Austrian women poets Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in England Elbogen family English-Esperanto translators Esperanto speaking Jews German–Esperanto translators Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom Jewish poets Jewish translators Jewish women writers People from Sankt Pölten-Land District Translators of Axel Munthe Translators of Franz Grillparzer Writers from Vienna