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Mascha Kaléko (born Golda Malka Aufen; 7 June 1907 – 21 January 1975) was a
German-language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is a ...
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
.


Biography

Kaléko was born Golda Malka Aufen in
Chrzanów Chrzanów () is a town in southern Poland with 35,651 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999) and is the seat of Chrzanów County. History History to 1809 It is impossible to establish ...
, Galicia (now
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
). She was the daughter of Fischel Engel, a merchant, and Rozalia Chaja Reisel Aufen, both of
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 ...
descent. With the commencement of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, her mother moved with her and her sister Lea to Germany; first to
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, then to Marburg, and in 1918 to Berlin where her parents married in 1922. In 1928, she married the Hebrew teacher Saul Aaron Kaléko. From 1929 on, she published poetry presenting the daily life of the common people in newspapers such as ''
Vossische Zeitung The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...
'' and ''
Berliner Tageblatt The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time. History The ''Berli ...
''. In her poetry, Kaléko captured the atmosphere of Berlin in the 1930s. She attained fame and frequented places like the "Romanisches Café", where the literary world met, among them
Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...
and
Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satire, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the Kaspar Hauser, historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wr ...
. In January 1933, Rowohlt published her first book with poetry ''Lyrisches Stenogrammheft'', which was soon subjected to Nazi censorship, and two years later her second book ''Das kleine Lesebuch für Große'' appeared, also with the publisher Rowohlt. In 1938, Kaléko emigrated to the United States with her second husband, the composer , and their one-year-old son , who became a writer and theatre personality in adult life. Steven fell ill with pancreatitis while directing a play in Massachusetts, and died in 1968 at the age of 31. While in the U.S., Kaléko lived in several places (New York City and a few months in California) until settling on Minetta Street in New York City's
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
in 1942. Her fifth-floor walkup apartmen
Minetta Street
was a safe haven she always remembered fondly. Kaléko became the family's breadwinner with odd jobs, including some writing copy for advertisements. The family's hope of a possible career for Chemjo in the film industry was crushed, and they returned to New York after a brief stint in Hollywood. The Schoenhof Verlag in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
published Kaléko's third book "Verse für Zeitgenossen" in 1945 (German edition in 1958 by Rowohlt Verlag). In 1956, Kaléko returned to Berlin for the first time. Three years later she was supposed to receive the Fontane prize, which she declined since the former Nazi and member of the
Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
, Hans Egon Holthusen, was a member of the jury. In 1959, Kaléko moved to West Jerusalem,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, since her husband, who was conducting research on Hassidic singing, had better working conditions there. She lacked knowledge of Hebrew and was thus somewhat isolated. Kaléko died in January 1975 in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, where she fell ill en route back to Jerusalem from a final visit in Berlin. She is buried in '' Israelitischer Friedhof Oberer Friesenberg''.


Legacy

Some of Kaléko's poems were published posthumously, including " Sozusagen grundlos vergnügt", in 1977 in the collection ''In meinen Träumen läutet es Sturm'' (In my dreams, a storm is brewing). edited by , to whom Kaléko had entrusted her unpublished writings. Various attempts have been made to translate individual poems into English. In March 2010, for the first time, a representative number of Kaléko's poems appeared in English translation in the book No matter where I travel, I come to Nowhereland': The poetry of Mascha Kaléko'' (
The University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...
, 2010, 112 pages). The author, Andreas Nolte, has selected poems from every phase of the poet's life. His translations follow the original German texts as closely as possible in order to maintain the Kalékoesque content, diction, rhythm, and rhyme. Brief introductions provide additional information on Kaléko's remarkable biography. In Berlin, a street and a park were named after her, and a
memorial plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...
was placed at her former residence. On September 16, 2020,
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
celebrated her with a
Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...
.


Quote

From the poem "Mein schönstes Gedicht" From the poem "Was man so braucht" (translations: Andreas Nolte): The poem "Pihi":


Works

* Das Lyrische Stenogrammheft. Verse vom Alltag (1933) * Das kleine Lesebuch für Große. Gereimtes und Ungereimtes, Verse (1934) * Verse für Zeitgenossen (1945) * Das Lyrische Stenogrammheft (1956, not to be confused with the earlier collection of the same name) * Verse für Zeitgenossen (1958, not to be confused with the earlier collection of the same name) * Der Papagei, die Mamagei und andere komische Tiere (1961) * Verse in Dur und Moll (1967) * Das himmelgraue Poesiealbum der M.K (1968) * Wie's auf dem Mond zugeht (1971) * Hat alles seine zwei Schattenseiten (1973) Published posthumously: * Feine Pflänzchen. Rosen, Tulpen, Nelken und nahrhaftere Gewächse (1976) * Der Gott der kleinen Webfehler (1977) * In meinen Träumen lautet es Sturm. Gedichte und Epigramme aus dem Nachlaß.(1977) * Horoskop gefällig? (1979) * Heute ist morgen schon gestern (1980) * Tag und Nacht Notizen (1981) * Ich bin von anno dazumal (1984) * Der Stern, auf dem wir leben (1984)


Notes


References


Sources

* Julia Meyer: ''"Bibbi, Ester und der Papagei". Mascha Kalékos jüdische Autorschaft zwischen "Berliner Kindheit um 1900" und Jugend-Alijah''. In: ''Berlin – Bilder einer Metropole in erzählenden Medien für Kinder und Jugendliche''. ed. by Sabine Planka. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2018, , pp. 139–171 * Julia Meyer: ''Karnevaleske Blödsinnzentrale: Mascha Kalékos Berliner Gedichte als Kabaretttexte im "Querschnitt"''. In: ''Deutsche illustrierte Presse. Journalismus und visuelle Kultur in der Weimarer Republik''. ed. by Katja Leiskau, Patrick Rössler und Susann Trabert. Nomos, Baden-Baden 2016, , pp. 305–330 * Julia Meyer: ''"Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach, in mir zur Miete." Inszenierungen von Autorschaft im Werk Mascha Kalékos''. Thelem, Dresden 2018, * Andreas Nolte: ''"Mascha": The Poems of Mascha Kaléko''. Burlington/VT: Fomite Press, 2017. . Dual-language book (English/German) with translated poems and biographical information *
Andreas Nolte Andreas () is a name derived from the Greek noun ἀνήρ ''anēr'', with genitive ἀνδρός ''andros'', which means "man". See the article on Andrew for more information. The Scandinavian name is earliest attested as antreos in a runestone ...
(ed.): ''Mascha Kaléko: "No matter where I travel, I come to Nowhereland" – The Poetry of Mascha Kaléko.'' Translated and introduced by Andreas Nolte. Burlington/VT: The University of Vermont, 2010. * Jutta Rosenkranz: ''Mascha Kaléko – Biografie''. Munich: dtv-Verlag, 2007. *
Andreas Nolte Andreas () is a name derived from the Greek noun ἀνήρ ''anēr'', with genitive ἀνδρός ''andros'', which means "man". See the article on Andrew for more information. The Scandinavian name is earliest attested as antreos in a runestone ...
(Editor): ''"Ich stimme fuer Minetta Street" – Festschrift aus Anlass des 100. Geburtstags von Mascha Kaléko.'' Burlington/VT: The University of Vermont, 2007. * Andreas Nolte: "'Mir ist zuweilen so als ob das Herz in mir zerbrach' – Leben und Werk Mascha Kalékos im Spiegel ihrer sprichwörtlichen Dichtung." Bern: Peter Lang-Verlag 2003. * Gisela Zoch-Westphal: "Aus den sechs Leben der Mascha Kaléko." Berlin: arani-Verlag, 1987.


External links

*
Kaléko-Website
Gisela Zoch-Westphal
Mascha Kaléko
im Zentralen Verzeichnis digitalisierter Drucke (zvdd)

Frauen-Kultur-Archiv of the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Zehn vertonte Gedichte aus ''Mein Lied geht weiter''
podcast by Literatur-Café and dtv * Marcel Reich-Ranicki:
Zur Heimat erkor sie sich die Liebe.
''Essay zum 100. Geburtstag'' in '' FAZ'', 5 June 2007 * Gisela Zoch-Westphal
Was wahrhaftig ist, wird nicht vergessen.
Text for the centenary of the poet, in ''
Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...
'', 2 June 2007. * Michaela Schmitz
Mascha Kaleko zum 100. Geburtstag: Leben und Werk.
Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in t ...
broadcast on 3 June 2007.
Kaleko liest eigene Texte.
lyrikline.org * Rengha Rodewill
Hommage à Mascha Kaléko
Exhibition of an installation in two partsat the to the centenary of the poet, Berlin, 27 September 2007 (
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
) * Iris Weiss
Mascha Kaléko. Galicia – Berlin–New York–Jerusalem
hagalil.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaleko, Mascha 1907 births 1975 deaths People from Chrzanów Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) German-language poets 20th-century Austrian poets Austrian women poets Jewish poets Jewish Austrian writers Austrian expatriates in Germany Austrian expatriates in Israel Austrian expatriates in Switzerland 20th-century Austrian women writers