Jenny Weleminsky

Jenny Weleminsky (née Elbogen; 12 June 1882– 4 February 1957)[1][2] was a German-speaking Esperantist and translator who was born in Thalheim, Lower Austria[3] 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.[4]

Jenny Weleminsky
Born
Jenny Elbogen

(1882-06-12)June 12, 1882
Schloss Thalheim, Lower Austria
DiedFebruary 4, 1957(1957-02-04) (aged 74)
London, England
NationalityAustrian
OccupationEsperantist and translator
Known forTranslations of works by Franz Grillparzer and other Austrian writers
MovementBudapeŝto skolo, the Budapest school of Esperanto literature
Spouse(s)Friedrich ("Fritz") Weleminsky
ChildrenThree daughters and one son: Marianne; Anton; Eliesabeth (Jardenah); Dorothea (Leah)
Parent(s)Guido Elbogen and Rosalie Schwabacher
Portrait picture of Jenny Weleminsky and her husband Friedrich c. 1905–1910
Schloss Thalheim, Kapelln
Schloss Thalheim under renovation in 2013
Jenny Weleminsky much admired Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872) – pictured here in an 1841 lithograph by Josef Kriehuber – who was regarded as the national poet of Austria.

Early life and education

Jenny Elbogen was born into a Jewish family on 12 June 1882 at Schloss Thalheim,[note 1] Lower Austria, the youngest child of Guido Elbogen (1845, Jungbrunzlau – 1918, Schloss Thalheim) who became President of the Anglo-Austrian Bank in Vienna,[5][6] and his wife Rosalie (Ali) (née Schwabacher; 1850, Paris – 1940, Sartrouville, Île-de-France),[7] whom he married in 1868 in Paris. She had three sisters (Antoinette (1871–1901); and Hermione and Helene (1878–1882) who both died in infancy) and a brother (Heinrich, also known as Henri; 1872–1927).[2]

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’s memoir The Story of San Michele from English to Esperanto for publication in 1935.[8]

Political views

Politically she had very determinate and fixed views, many inherited from her father. She 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 and ceased all contact with two of her daughters after they left Austria to live in Mandate Palestine.

Although her father Guido Elbogen had donated money towards the construction of a new synagogue (built in 1913) in Sankt Pölten,[9] she was a secular Jew and an atheist.

Marriage and family life

After Guido Elbogen died in 1918 she inherited Schloss Thalheim; her father had bought it in 1882 just before she was born.[10] She lived there and in Prague[8] (which until 1918 was part of Austria-Hungary) with her husband Friedrich ("Fritz") Weleminsky[2] (1868, Golčův Jeníkov – 1945, London); they married at Schloss Thalheim on 4 December 1905. He was a lecturer in Hygiene (now called Microbiology) at the German University, Prague[3] and developed tuberculomucin Weleminsky, a treatment for tuberculosis.[11] The couple ran Schloss Thalheim as a model dairy farm.

Facing Nazi persecution for being Jewish, they found sanctuary in 1939 in Britain[3][12] where she continued to translate books into Esperanto, wrote poetry and taught English to other refugees.[12]

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.[2]

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, Anton[note 2] born 1908), came to Britain just before the Second World War. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren now live in Britain, Israel, Australia, Sweden and Germany.

Publications

Translations from German

Novel
  • Alexander Roda Roda, translated by Jenny Weleminsky (1936). "La ŝtona gasto" (PDF). Literatura Mondo: 91–95.[13][14]

Play

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", translated by Jenny Weleminsky (1936). "Austriaj Poetoj" (PDF). Literatura Mondo: 94.[13]
  • Anastasius Grün: "La epitafo", translated by Jenny Weleminsky (1936). "Austriaj Poetoj" (PDF). Literatura Mondo: 94.[13]
  • Friedrich Halm: "Kio estas amo?", translated by Jenny Weleminsky (1936). "Austriaj Poetoj" (PDF). Literatura Mondo: 94.[13]
  • Johann Gabriel Seidl: "La majstro kaj lia verko", translated by Jenny Weleminsky (1936). "Austriaj Poetoj" (PDF). Literatura Mondo: 94.[13]

Translations from English

Novel

Notes
  1. Schloss Thalheim is in the village of Thalheim (Kapelln), today a part of Kapelln, Sankt Pölten-Land District; See de:Liste der denkmalgeschützten Objekte in Kapelln#Denkmäler, Jakob Prandtauer. After restoration it reopened in 2016 as a luxury hotel.
  2. Anton was referred to as "Antonin" in official Czech documents.
gollark: Well, I have *time* to concentrate on things loads now.
gollark: Those colourless green ideas sure do love sleeping furiously!
gollark: What?
gollark: And also semantically meaningful ones, no colourless green ideas sleeping furiously.
gollark: ↑

References
  1. Gaskell, Richard (23 May 2003). "British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia and Czech Refugee Trust Fund documents at the Public Record Office: Names of registered individuals and associated persons from HO294/612 and HO294/613". Czech And Slovak Things. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  2. Fürth, Thomas (18 February 2015). "Jenny Welleminsky (Elbogen) (1882–1957)". Geni.com. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  3. Reeves, Carole (4 April 2012). "Tuberculomucin – a forgotten treatment for tuberculosis". Carole Reeves. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  4. Sutton, Geoffrey (2008). Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto: 1887–2007. New York: Mondial. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-59569-090-6. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  5. Kanner, Siegmund (1898). 10.4 Guido Elbogen. Das Lotto in Österreich. Ein Beitrag zur Finanzgeschictite Österreichs (The Lotto in Austria, a contribution to the financial history of Austria). Strasbourg: Kaiser Wilhelm University of Strasbourg. p. 86.
  6. Nagel, Bernhard; Nautz, Jürgen P (1999). Nationale Konflikte und monetäre Einheit: ein Plädoyer für die Währungsunion (in German). Vienna: Passagen Verlag. p. 92.
  7. Fürth, Thomas (22 February 2015). "Rosalie Elbogen (Schwabacher)". Geni.com. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. Munthe, Axel, translated from the original English text by Jenny Weleminsky (1935). Romano de San Michele. Budapest (Association of Esperanto Book Friends (AELA)): Eldonis: Literatura Mondo.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "New synagogue: Donation list of the Temple-Construction-Association". St Polten, Lower Austria: Memorbuch: Juden in St Polten. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  10. "Thalheim". Burgen-Austria.com ("Castles in Austria"). 17 September 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  11. Zemmin, H; Wille, K (October 1926). "Beitrag zur Tuberkulosetherapie mit Tuberculomucin (Contribution to tuberculosis therapy with tuberculomucin)". Beiträge zur Klinik der Tuberkulose und Spezifischen Tuberkulose-Forschung (Contributions to Clinical Tuberculosis and Tuberculosis – Specific Research). 64 (5–6): 679–682. doi:10.1007/BF02093958. ISSN 0341-2040.
  12. Jones, Charlotte (July 2011). "My grandfather: A kind and modest man" (PDF). AJR Journal. 11 (7): 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  13. Meszaros, Istvan. "Enhavlisto de Literatura Mondo" (PDF). egalite.hu. p. 51. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  14. Meszaros, Istvan. "Enhavlisto de Literatura Mondo" (PDF). egalite.hu. p. 50. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  15. Romano de San Michele. Toronto Public Library. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
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