Rahel Sanzara
Encyclopedia
Rahel Sanzara (9 February 1894 - 8 February 1936) was a German dancer, actress and novelist.
. In 1913 she moved to Berlin, where she met physician and author Ernst Weiß. Their relationship lasted for more than twenty years. After a short stint as a wartime nurse in 1914/15 she received an education as a dancer and launced a successful career. Since 1916 she also worked successfully as a movie actress and received actress training from Otto Falckenberg
in Munich, and found employment first in Prague
, and from 1921 to 1924 at the Hessisches Landestheater in Darmstadt.
Her first novel Das verlorene Kind (The lost child) was published in 1926 and caused great controversy for its subject matter, the lust murder
of a four year old girl by an older boy. The book, based on a real 19th century crime case and drawing from both genres of detective novel and psychological drama received rave reviews and quickly saw several editions and was translated into eleven languages. It is still in print and continues to sell well today. Rahel Sanzara was to be awarded the respected Kleist-Preis in 1926, but she turned it down. Her subsequent novels couldn't repeat her debut's success.
In 1927 Rahel Sanzara married the Jewish stock broker Walter Davidsohn, who emigrated to France to escape persecution from the Nazis, while she remained in Berlin, already weakened by cancer
. She died in 1936 after a long illness.
Biography
Johanna Bleschke was the oldest of a town musician's four children. After graduating from a school for 'higher daughters', she went into an apprenticeship as a bookbinder in BlankenburgBlankenburg
Blankenburg may refer to:* Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt* Blankenburg Castle , the castle in Blankenburg am Harz * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia...
. In 1913 she moved to Berlin, where she met physician and author Ernst Weiß. Their relationship lasted for more than twenty years. After a short stint as a wartime nurse in 1914/15 she received an education as a dancer and launced a successful career. Since 1916 she also worked successfully as a movie actress and received actress training from Otto Falckenberg
Otto Falckenberg
Otto Falckenberg was a German theatre director, manager and writer. In April 1901, he co-founded Die Elf Scharfrichter, the first political kabarett in Germany....
in Munich, and found employment first in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and from 1921 to 1924 at the Hessisches Landestheater in Darmstadt.
Her first novel Das verlorene Kind (The lost child) was published in 1926 and caused great controversy for its subject matter, the lust murder
Lust murder
A lust murder is a homicide in which the offender searches for erotic satisfaction by killing someone. Lust murder is synonymous with the paraphilic term erotophonophilia which is sexual arousal or gratification contingent on the death of a human being...
of a four year old girl by an older boy. The book, based on a real 19th century crime case and drawing from both genres of detective novel and psychological drama received rave reviews and quickly saw several editions and was translated into eleven languages. It is still in print and continues to sell well today. Rahel Sanzara was to be awarded the respected Kleist-Preis in 1926, but she turned it down. Her subsequent novels couldn't repeat her debut's success.
In 1927 Rahel Sanzara married the Jewish stock broker Walter Davidsohn, who emigrated to France to escape persecution from the Nazis, while she remained in Berlin, already weakened by cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. She died in 1936 after a long illness.
Works
- Das verlorene Kind (The lost child) (Novel 1926) ISBN 978-3-518-37410-8, LCCN 29022338.
- Die glückliche Hand (in: Vossische ZeitungVossische ZeitungThe Vossische Zeitung was the well known liberal German newspaper that was published in Berlin . Its predecessor was founded in 1704...
March 1933; Novel, Zürich 1936) ISBN 978-3-518-37684-3 - Hochzeit der Armen (Novel, unpublished and lost)