Ann Tizia Leitich

Ann Tizia Leitich (born January 25, 1891 in Vienna ; † September 3, 1976 there ) was an Austrian writer, art historian and journalist who emigrated to the USA at a young age and began her journalistic career there. Among other things, Leitich campaigned for the rights of women.

Life

Vienna in the interwar period

Ann Tizia Leitich was born as the daughter of the school principal Professor Albert Leitich and the actress Emilie Schmidt. She grew up in a time that was heavily marked by political crises and wars: Austrian society suffered from the economic and political consequences of the First World War (1914–1918). Especially the Treaty of St. Germain , in which Austria had to give up South Tyrol, among other things, was the focus of public criticism. In addition, the end of the Habsburg monarchy meant that the country was in a period of major upheaval.

Despite a privileged childhood, Ann Tizia Leitich was not happy in Vienna between the wars. As a young adult, at the request of her family, she was trained to be a teacher in the Austrian capital, a profession that she later did not pursue.

America

Ann Tizia Leitich found the years after the First World War in Europe very depressing, did not feel comfortable in Austrian society and increasingly longed for a freer life in a country untouched by war, such as the USA. In 1921 the young woman suffered a nervous breakdown which caused her to turn her back on Austria and emigrate to America, where, as she later wrote, women were granted more freedom than in Europe.

Upon arriving in Chicago, she initially failed to report to family, relatives, and friends and began working as a maid. At first, Leitich found his way in America difficult and could not find a job that went beyond the rank of housemaid.

After a few months, however, she had improved her language skills and fell in love with America, as evidenced by numerous documents from that period.

Only two years after her departure from Austria did her Viennese friends and relatives find out about her stay in the USA: In 1925 she became a part-time USA correspondent for the national daily newspaper Neue Freie Presse, which is published in Vienna . Her articles, which appeared in the feature sections of this and other German-language daily newspapers, described life in the USA in a detailed and entertaining manner. American women, who at the time were much more emancipated than European women, occupied a special place in their descriptions. Her multi-faceted and argumentatively accompanied descriptions countered the stereotypical image of the vamp that one had at the time of the emancipated American (Brooke Marie Wright, loc. Cit. ). The semi-autobiographical novel “Ursula discovers America” describes the gradual inner change of a European who emigrated to the USA on her own. Some of Leitich's newspaper articles are summarized in the book "America, You Got It Better". From 1923 the journalist worked regularly as a correspondent for the Neue Freie Presse. In their articles, Austrians were informed about American culture, enriched by Leitich's personal experiences in their new homeland. The topic of feminism was also discussed frequently. However, she did not work full-time as a cultural and foreign correspondent, but often wrote her articles at night after her actual job - soon also for other German-language newspapers such as the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. At the same time she studied art history in Des Moines, Iowa and wrote several novels - fictional and autobiographical.

In 1925, Ann Tizia Leitich accepted American citizenship. A year later, she began her career as a writer: in 1926 she published her first book "Amerika, du got es better", which contains a compilation of various essays.

Return to Vienna

After temporary stays in Europe (where she married Erich von Korningen, a senior Austrian civil servant, in 1928) Leitich finally returned to Vienna in the early thirties. Much later, 4 more novels that act in America were published here. Otherwise, however, Leitich dealt from then on with the cultural history of Vienna and also wrote numerous biographical novels. The entertainingly written and (for the time) richly illustrated work “Verklungenes Wien” on the cultural and everyday history of Vienna in the 19th century made it very popular in Vienna during its time (1942) (today's critical voices about the book: nostalgic; tendency anti-Semitic.) Later followed its counterpart “Vienna gloriosa” about the cultural and everyday history of Vienna in the 17th and 18th centuries. All of Leitich's works that were created in Vienna are based on extensive research, in which she was particularly supported by her husband Erich von Korningen, who had a lot of free time after his forced retirement for racial reasons in 1938. Leitich and von Korningen moved into Lerchenfelder Straße 25 in the seventh district of Vienna.

In Vienna Leitich was hardly active in the media anymore, but worked mainly as a writer and until her death in 1976 published over 25 books on art and culture, including “Verklungenes Wien” from 1942. There were several in the original version of this work anti-Semitic passages that were corrected after 1945.

For her fictional and non-fictional works, she received the Medal of Honor of the Federal Capital Vienna in 1966 and the Cross of Merit for Science and Art, First Class. In addition, she was awarded the title of professor because of her services to the country of Austria. Ann Tizia Leitich died on September 3, 1976 in Vienna.

Award

On June 8, 1966, Ann Tizia Leitich was awarded the Silver Medal of Honor of the Federal Capital of Vienna by the Mayor of Vienna .

Journalistic work

“Preludes. Ladies' letter from New York. "

One of the first and at the same time a very typical article by Ann Tizia Leitich were the above-mentioned “Preludes. Lady Letter from Newyork ”, published October 12, 1924 in the Neue Freie Presse . Although she addresses her friend Gabriele by name (which was possibly a purely stylistic means), the article is aimed at the entirety of the readers of the Neue Freie Presse - the most important newspaper of the Viennese bourgeoisie at the time. The theme of the text is the similarity of Europeans and Americans - the perceived contrast between the cultures should be reduced. This is what it says in the “Preludes. Ladies letter from Newyork ":

“[…] You will have to learn from us for a while if we are ahead of you: in youth, in faith, in discipline, in freedom - by that I mean God preserve not the political and not the social, but I mean an inner ease which bites into life like an apple, and which it conquers much more thoroughly. [...]

And so let me just remind you how your wives have already learned from here, in things that are dear to the fair sex and some of which are outwardly, but in the symptoms of their meaning, keywords. Didn't you cut your hair following the example of the impulsive, arbitrary American woman? And in order to emphasize the exquisiteness of the Ephebe figure, which refreshes the consciousness with the detachment from all Eva-attachment, even more arrogantly, don't you imitate the slim boy line? "

Ann Tizia Leitich also hinted at a call to feminism in the same article - with the words:

“But how, Gabriele, does this matter of holy progress stand in relation to the eternal game and counterplay with your companions, the bitter-sweet lords of creation, without whom existence would be like a park without trees, but who we are around For God's sake not being allowed to know - have you already learned from the American? "

Leitich indicates a different partnership model than the one that was common at the time. Much of this model is based on women's self-esteem - something Leitich saw more in American women than in European women.

"Dorothy preaches to men."

Leitich's feminist views are more clearly expressed in the article "Dorothy preaches to men", which appeared on April 1, 1926 in the Neue Freie Presse .

Ann Tizia Leitich addresses Austrian women in this, too, and this article is also in the form of a letter. He begins with the words:

"I don't know: Should I laugh or get angry, and I just keep asking myself: How could you let it get this far?"

The reason for Leitich's provocative question was the Austrian men's unwillingness to face feminism, which had been expressed in their appearance before parliament, where the men had lobbied against women's suffrage. Ann Tizia Leitich describes in her article the women in Austria her view of things and explains what she would have done in their place if she were still in Vienna. Thanks to the coherent chain of arguments and the rhetorical questions to the male opposition in matters of women's rights (such as education, work and family), Ann Tizia Leitich managed to write convincingly and sparkling with fine humor at the same time.

Further journalistic work

A selection of articles by Ann Tizia Leitich that have been published in the Neue Freie Presse :

• “Preludes. Ladies' letter from New York. ”The New Free Press , October 12, 1924.
• “Unarmed remarks on the women's question in America.” Die Neue Freie Presse , oA 1925.
• “Dorothy preaches to men.” New Free Press , April 1, 1926.
• “New York receives.” The New Free Press , September 19, 1926.
• “You want to go to New York? Letter to a young lady. “ Die Neue Freie Presse , oA 1927.
• “Is matriarchy coming? The American Family Crisis. ” The New Free Press , March 25, 1928.

Literary works

In addition to her journalistic articles, Ann Tizia Leitich has already published several novels in the USA. But especially during her marriage to Dr. Erich Korningen Leitich expanded her literary profession. While her novels published in the USA were, among other things, autobiographical, Leitich favored the topic of cultural history after her return to Vienna. Ann Tizia Leitich has remained known for her literary works to this day, but her newspaper articles have largely been forgotten.

Focus on America

• "America, you have it better", Vienna: Steyrermühl Verlag, 1926. OL 16613277M, LC: 27021177
• "Ursula discovers America", Berlin: Brunnen-Verlag, 1928.
• "King of Eldorado", Höger Verlag, 1938.
• "Drei in Amerika", Vienna: Amandus Edition, 1946.
• “Incomparable Amonate”, Graz: Cross Section Verlag, 1947.
• “Encounter in Chicago”, Vienna: Andermann Verlag, 1954.

Cultural history of Vienna

• "Die Wienerin", Stuttgart: Franck, 1939. OL 234137M, LC: af 50000105.
• "Viennese Biedermeier". Culture, art and life of the old imperial city from the Congress of Vienna to the storm year 1848, Leipzig: Verlag Velhagen and Klasing, 1941. OL 6523819M, LC: 47034078.
• "Faded Vienna". From Biedermeier to the turn of the century, Vienna: Wilhelm Andermann Verlag, 1942. ISBN 0-05-348299-9 .
• "Vienna gloriosa". World city of baroque, Vienna: Wilhelm Andermann Verlag, 1947. Vienna: Forum Verlag, 1963. OL 6054115M, LC: 49019782.
• "The Spanish Riding School", Munich: Nymphenburger Verlagbuchhandlung, 1956.
• "Back then in Vienna". The great century of a cosmopolitan city 1800–1900 (summarized and revised version of “Wiener Biedermeier” and “Verklungenes Wien”), Vienna: Forum Verlag, 1957. OL 13960693M.
• "Lips are silent - violins whisper". Eternal magic of the Viennese operetta, Vienna: Forum Verlag, 1960. OL 22066757M, LC: 61002221.
• "Sweet Vienna". Von Kanditoren und Konditoren, Vienna: Hunna, 1964. Released as “Wiener Zuckerbäcker”. A sweet cultural history, Vienna: Amalthea, 1980. ISBN 3-85002-127-0 .

Biographical novels

• "Twelve times love". Women around Grillparzer, 1948. Released as “Genius and Passion”. Grillparzer and the women, Vienna: Speidel, 1965. OL 5641568M, LC: 68072768.
• "Augustissima". Maria Theresia - Life and Work, Vienna: Amalthea, 1953. Released as “Maria Theresia”, Ullstein, 1990; Tosa, 1995. Japanese edition 1984
• "The emperor with the pomegranate". The life novel of Maximilian I, Hamburg: Dulk, 1955; Vienna: Speidel, 1966. OL 5574997M, LC: 67085865.
• "Metternich and the Sibylle". An intimate novel in a highly political setting, Vienna: Amalthea, 1960.
• "Premiere in London". GF Handel and his time, Munich: Ehrenwirth Verlag, 1962. OL 14788772M.
• “An enigmatic woman. Madame Recamier and her friends ”. Hamburg, Vienna: Schröder, Speidel, 1967. OL 23205346M, LC: 67026256.
• "Elisabeth of Austria", Lausanne: Edition Rencontre, 1971.

Various

• "Cupid in the coat of arms". Novel from Vienna during the Congress period, Stuttgart: Franckh, 1940. OL 17303101M.
• "The Love Congress". A biography of love, Vienna: Book Publishing New Austria, 1950. OL 21986470M.

reception

Although Ann Tizia Leitich has lost fame in recent decades, she was a valued and popular personality during her lifetime - partly because of her work for the Neue Freie Presse, which had a large number of middle and upper class readers in the 1920s. Over the years she has received numerous letters from enthusiastic readers, which can now be viewed in the Vienna State Library.

Prominent personalities were also among their enthusiastic readers: For example, the Salzburg author Stefan Zweig wrote in 1925:

"I would like to thank you warmly for your assignment in the" New Free Press "- you are basically saying what I feel so much myself - [sic!] That America is strongly on its way into the new, while we are here in Europe Not preserving the old, not being able to digest the new. […] You are over there - I almost congratulate you! […] I hope I can visit you one day […] ”. (Leitich Archive Document No. 1.N.184.520, letter from Stefan Zweig. March 31, 1925. Vienna: City and State Library, Manuscript Collection) One factor in Ann Tizia Leitich's popularity may have been the fact that she gave women of the 1920s a represented a new view of the position of women in society: She was free and independent and managed to work her way up from governess to journalist and author in American society. The very fact that she worked herself to earn a living surely made her a special personality, since employment in the interwar period was by no means a matter of course for women.

A scientific paper on Ann Tizia Leitich was first published in the USA in 2004: Marie Brooke Wright wrote at Brigham Young University “Ann Tizia Leitich: New Voice, New Woman. Packaging America for Vienna. ”This work serves as the most detailed source on Ann Tizia Leitich, as she is also dealing with Leitich as a journalist for the first time.

literature

• Lebendige Stadt, Almanach 1963. Published by the Office for Culture, Public Education and School Administration of the City of Vienna.
• Rob McFarland: Red Vienna, White Socialism and the Blues: Ann Tizia Leitich's America. Camden House, Rochester NY 2015. ISBN 9781571139368
• Rob McFarland: “Migration as Mediation: New Free Press American Correspondent Ann Tizia Leitich and Stefan Zweig's“ The Monotonization of the World. ”” Seminar 42.3 (2006). 242-260.
• Brooke Marie Wright: Ann Tizia Leitich. New Voice, New Woman. Packaging America for Vienna . Dissertation Brigham Young University , Provo, Utah, USA 2004
• Rebecca Unterberger: “ America, you have it better? Travel description from the New World ”in Primus-Heinz Kucher / Julia Bertschik (eds.) Construction site culture. Discourse situations in Austrian literature 1918–1933 / 38 Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag. 125-158.
• Entry on Ann Tizia Leitich in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon ) (with portrait photo)
• Elisabeth Klaus, Ulla Wischermann : Journalists. A story in biographies and texts 1848–1990. LIT Verlag, Vienna 2013.

Archives in Vienna

• Part of the estate of Ann Tizia Leitich, Vienna City Hall Library, manuscript collection, ZPH 432 (+591) (PDF; 76 kB)
• Leitich Archive. Vienna City and State Library, manuscript collection

Web links

• Literature by and about Ann Tizia Leitich in the catalog of the German National Library
• Rebecca Unterberger: Portrait module on Ann Tizia Leitich at litkult1920er.aau.at , a project of the University of Klagenfurt

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 14
2. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 14
3. ↑ Wright 2004: 21 f.
4. ^ Wright 2004: 21 ff.
5. ^ Wiener Zeitung : How Vienna became more and more beautiful, November 19, 2004 (accessed on December 4, 2013)
6. ↑ http://veit-feger.homepage.t-online.de/brnsna.htm
7. ↑ Wringt 2004: 11
8. ↑ Feger 2011, online
9. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 14
10. ↑ http://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000001743467-00