Berta Eckstein-Diener
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Bertha Eckstein-Diener (18 March 1874,
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
– 20 February 1948,
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
), also known by her American pseudonym as Helen Diner, was an Austrian writer, travel journalist, feminist historian and
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
. Her book ''Mothers and Amazons'' (1930), was the first to focus on women's cultural history. It is regarded as a classic study of
Matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...
.
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
Dinner party database
She was a member of the ''" Arthurians,"'' a group of European intellectuals active in the 1930s, each of whom adopted a name from Arthur's Round Table (Diner was
Sir Galahad Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a Knights of the Round Table, knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He i ...
). Each member undertook to research an area of knowledge hitherto little known to Western culture. Diner set out to document a feminist history of women, and infused her book ''Mothers and Amazons'' (''Mütter und Amazonen'') with lyrical and poetic language.


Life

Bertha Diener came from a
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
family and received a higher education. Against the will of her parents, she married the polymath
Friedrich Eckstein Frederick Eckstein (February 17, 1861 in Perchtoldsdorf, Lower Austria – November 10, 1939 in Vienna) was an Austrian polymath, theosophist and a friend and temporary co-worker of Sigmund Freud. Emil Molt states: 'He was the benefactor of Bruc ...
, a Viennese scholar and industrialist, in 1898. Like her husband, she was a member of the Vienna Lodge of the Theosophical Society Adyar (Adyar-TG). The couple received in their home at this time such notables as Karl Kraus, Adolf Loos, and
Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg (9 March 1859 – 8 January 1919) was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. Biography He was born Richard Engländer on 9 March 1859 in Vienna. The nom de p ...
. In 1904 Bertha left her husband and her son Percy (born 1899) and began her travels which took her to
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The couple finally divorced in 1909 and Frederick Eckstein died in 1939 at the age of 78. Her 2nd son, Roger (born 1910) was fathered by
Theodore Beer Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...
, but was placed with a foster family and did not make contact again with his mother until 1936 by letter and in person only in 1938 in Berlin. From 1919 Diener lived in
Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Diener initially wrote under the pseudonym Ahasvera (roughly translated as "Perpetual traveler").Collection of essays published Munich,1924, by Albert Langen Verlag für Literatur und Kunst, as ''Der Unfug des Sterbens : ausgewählte Essays, von Prentice Mulford ; bearbeitet und aus dem Englischen übersetzt von Sir Galahad'', authors: Mulford, Prentice, 1834-1891. ; Eckstein-Diener, Bertha Helene, (pseudonyms, "Ahasvera", "Sir Galahad", "Helen Diner"), 1874-194

/ref> Her best-known works were published under the name Sir Galahad, from the knights of King Arthur. Besides her books, she wrote a series of articles for newspapers and magazines and translated three works of American journalists and the esoteric writer
Prentice Mulford Prentice Mulford (April 5, 1834 – c. May 30, 1891) was an American literary humorist and California author. In addition, he was pivotal in the development of the thought within the New Thought movement. Many of the principles that would becom ...
. Between 1914 and 1919 she wrote ''Kegelschnitte Gottes'', about the situation of women during that period. From 1925 to 1931, she worked on ''Mütter und Amazonen'', a women-focused cultural history, based on the work of Johann Jakob Bachofen. She died aged 73 on 20 February 1948 in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, five weeks after an operation. Her last work, a cultural history of England, remained unfinished.


Works

Unless otherwise indicated, the works first appeared under the pseudonym Sir Galahad. * ''Im palast des Minos'' (In the Palace of Minos), Munich:
Albert Langen Albert Langen (8 July 1869 – 30 April 1909) was a German publisher and founder of the satirical publication ''Simplicissimus''. Early years Langen was, after Martha and Martin, the third of four children born to Antwerp industrialist Friedrich ...
, 1913. 118 pp., 2nd ed., 1924. * (tr.) ''Der Unfug des Sterbens: ausgewählte Essays'' by
Prentice Mulford Prentice Mulford (April 5, 1834 – c. May 30, 1891) was an American literary humorist and California author. In addition, he was pivotal in the development of the thought within the New Thought movement. Many of the principles that would becom ...
. Munich: Langen,
920 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byzan ...
* ''Die Kegelschnitte Gottes; Roman'' (The Conic Sections of God: Novel), Munich: Albert Langen, 1921. 546 pp. 2nd ed., 1926; 3rd ed., 1932. * (tr.) ''Das Ende des Unfugs: ausgewählte Essays'' by Prentice Mulford. Munich: Albert Langen, 1922. * ''Idiotenführer durch die russische Literatur'' (Idiot's Guide to Russian literature). Munich: Albert Langen, 1925. 163 pp. * ''Mütter und Amazone: ein Umriss weiblicher Reiche'' (Mothers and Amazons: an outline of female empires), Munich: Albert Langen, 1932. 305 pp. Various later eds., from 1981 by Ullstein in paperback, with the subtitle ''Liebe und Macht im Frauenreich'' (love and power in the rule of women). . Translated into English by John Philip Lundin as ''Mothers and Amazons: the first feminine history of culture'', New York: Julian Press, 1965. Introduction by
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
. * ''Byzanz; von kaisern, engeln und eunuchen'' (Byzantium. Of emperors, angels and eunuchs), Leipzig and Vienna: Tal, 1936. 318 pp. Translated into English by Eden and
Cedar Paul Cedar Paul, ''née'' Gertrude Mary Davenport (1880 – 18 March 1972) was a singer, author, translator and journalist.''Who Was Who'' Biography Gertrude Davenport came from a musical family: she was the granddaughter of the composer George Alex ...
as ''Emperors, angels, and eunuchs: the thousand years of the Byzantine Empire'', London: Chatto & Windus, 1938. US edition published as ''Imperial Byzantium'', 1938. * ''Bohemund: ein Kreuzfahrer-Roman'' (Bohemond: a Crusader novel), Leipzig: Goten-Verlag Herbert Eisentraut, 1938. 291 pp. * (as Helen Diner) ''Seide: Eine kleine Kulturgeschichte'' (Silk: a small cultural history), Leipzig: Goten-Verlag H. Eisentraut, 1940. 259 pp., 2nd ed., 1944; 3rd ed., 1949. * ''Der glückliche Hügel; ein Richard-Wagner-Roman'' (The lucky hill: a Richard Wagner novel), Zürich: Atlantis, 1943. 366 pp.


Notes


References


Helen Diner
Entry at the Brooklyn Museum ''Dinner Party'' database of notable women. Accessed March 2008
Works at the German National Library Index


at the
Aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German language, German and English language, English about Austria-related topics. Background The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in ...
, Austria. Accessed March 2008 *
Sibylle Mulot-Déri Sibylle is a given name. It may refer to: *Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1542–1580), eldest surviving daughter of Count Philipp IV and Countess Eleonore of Fürstenberg *Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (1586–1659), Electress of Saxony ...
: ''Sir Galahad. Porträt einer Verschollenen'',
Fischer Taschenbuch S. Fischer Verlag is a major German publishing house, which has operated as a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group since 1962. The publishing house was founded in 1881 by Samuel Fischer in Berlin, but is currently based in Frankfurt am Mai ...
, Frankfurt 1987, 283 S. (vergriffen) {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckstein-Diener, Bertha Austrian Theosophists Austrian feminists Feminist writers 20th-century Austrian historians Austrian travel writers 20th-century Austrian journalists Austrian expatriates in Switzerland Writers from Vienna 1874 births 1948 deaths Women travel writers 20th-century Austrian women writers Austrian women historians Austrian women journalists