Sidonie Josepha Grünwald-Zerkowitz (17 February 1852 – 12 June 1907) was an

Austro-Hungarian 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 between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

writer, poet, translator, educator, and

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er.

Biography

Sidonie Zerkowitz 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 in Tobitschau,

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

(now in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

), the daughter of Jeanette () and Gerson Zerkowitz. An ancestor on her father's side was a banker to Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...

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 ...

. She received her early education from her father, a physician, becoming well-versed in

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 ...

, French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Hungarian,

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 ...

, and English. With her parents she moved to Holleschau, where she studied at a normal school. She later briefly attended

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

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. ...

. Zerkowitz thereupon came to Budapest, and before long passed the final state examination to teach Hungarian history and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

. Zerkowitz wrote lyrical poems, essays and

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

articles in Hungarian for the daily and belletristic papers in Budapest, becoming well known in literary circles. Her pedagogical articles, which attracted the attention of

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Ágoston Trefort Dr. Ágoston Trefort (pronunciation: a:gɔʃtɔn 'trɛfɔrt 7 February 1817 – 22 August 1888) was a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Religion and Education from 1872 until his death. He was the President of the Hungarian Acad ...

, advocated for reforms of the higher state institutions for girls in Hungary. In November 1874, after teaching at a municipal school for a few years, she received from

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

a free scholarship at his theatrical school in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Her studies were interrupted the following month by her marriage to Prince Theodore Kolokotronis of Greece, grandson of

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...

and great-grandson of

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

John Caradja John George Caradja, also known by his regnal name Ioan Gheorghe Caragea (; History of the Romanian language, pre-modern Romanian: , Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Cyrillic: Їωан Геωргïє Караџѣ; , , or ; , , or ; ; 1754 – 27 Dece ...

. (She had previously turned down a

marriage proposal A marriage proposal is a custom or ritual, common in Western cultures, in which one member of a couple asks the other for their hand in marriage. If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement, a mutual promise of later marriage. Norms a ...

from the poet Kálmán Tóth.) Joining the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church, she accompanied her husband to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where both she and her husband were disowned by the latter's family. The marriage was an unhappy one, and she soon fled Greece to her parents in Holleschau. In order to earn a living, she gave up her plan to become an actress, left her newborn child in the care of her parents and took a job as a teacher in the village of Winau. In 1877, after securing a divorce, she re-converted to Judaism and married the wealthy Vienna merchant and widower Leopold Grünwald, with whom she bore five more children. In Vienna, she became a

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

and edited the French and German

fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on journalism, writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about and critique fashion events and trends as well as cultivate and maintain relationships with stylists and ...

''La Mode''. She lectured extensively on women's

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

in Vienna and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, and, after her husband's death in 1890, she took over the management of a Viennese

language school A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, for example, communicative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools typically supplements fo ...

Work

When only thirteen years of age she published her first essays on literature, in German and Hungarian, in the newspapers of Budapest. In 1887 she anonymously published ''Die Lieder der Mormonin'' ('Songs of a Mormoness'), a

verse novel A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there is usually a large cast, multiple voices, ...

printed in the format of a 4-metre-long

Torah scroll A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

. The work follows the sexual awakening of the protagonist as she enters a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

plural marriage Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more ...

. Though the book was

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

in Austria as

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

, by 1900, at least seven editions had appeared in print. ''Das Gretchen von Heute'', a volume of erotic poetry, was subject to an

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

trial soon after its release, and subsequently

across the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. In other publications, she took a stand against

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 ...

, and promoted

women's education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

and independence. Her ''Wie verheiratet man mitgiftlose Mädchen?'' (1905), for instance, argued for the creation of '

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

funds' akin to

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

and sick funds. Other works by Grünwald-Zerkowitz included ''Zwanzig Gedichte von Koloman Tóth'' (Vienna, 1874), translated from Hungarian; ''Die Mode in der Frauenkleidung'' (Vienna, 1889); ''Das Gretchen von Heute'' (Zurich, 1890); ''Achmed's Ehe'' (1900); ''Doppel-Ehen'' (1900); ''Poetischer Hirt'' (1901); and ''Schattenseiten des Frauenstudiums'' (1901). She contributed many articles to newspapers; among those contributed to the Berlin ''Bühne und Welt'' included "Toilettenkünstlerinnen auf der Bühne", and critical essays on

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

Wolter Wolter is a given name and surname of Low German and Low Franconian origin. It is equivalent to the English Walter, High German Walther, Dutch Wouter and French Gauthier. People with the name Wolter include: Given name * Wolter von Plettenberg (c ...

, Dusé, Réjane, and Jane Hading, among others.

Partial bibliography

* * * * * * * *
Set to music
by Otto Wick. * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grünwald-Zerkowitz, Sidonie 1852 births 1907 deaths 19th-century Austrian Jews 19th-century Austrian poets 19th-century Austrian women writers 19th-century Czech poets 19th-century Czech women writers 19th-century Hungarian educators 19th-century Hungarian poets 19th-century Hungarian women writers 19th-century Austrian women educators Fashion designers from Austria-Hungary Educators from Austria-Hungary Emigrants from Austria-Hungary Immigrants to Greece Jews from Austria-Hungary Poets from Austria-Hungary Writers from Austria-Hungary Education writers Fashion editors German-language poets Hungarian women poets Hungarian-language writers Jewish educators Jewish fashion designers Jewish women writers Moravian Jews Mormonism and polygamy People from the Margraviate of Moravia People from Tovačov Pseudonymous women writers Translators from Hungarian Austrian women literary critics Hungarian women literary critics Austrian women essayists Hungarian women essayists Czech women essayists Czech essayists Austrian women fashion designers Austrian fashion designers Czech women fashion designers Czech fashion designers Hungarian women fashion designers 19th-century pseudonymous writers Literary critics from Austria-Hungary