Elfriede Ehrenfels

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Elfriede Ehrenfels

Elfriede (Frida) Leopoldine Ehrenfels, born von Bodmershof (born March 28, 1894 in Trieste , Austria-Hungary , † August 26, 1982 ; also Ehrenfels von Bodmershof ) was an Austrian writer . Under the pseudonym "Kurban Said" she published the internationally known novels Ali and Nino and The Girl from the Golden Horn . The fact that she wrote the two works herself is considered controversial.

Life

Ali and Nino , first edition, publisher EP Tal & Co

The von Bodmershof family was ennobled by Emperor Franz Joseph I in the year Elfriede was born. Elfriede's father had made a name for himself as financial procurator at the imperial court.

On December 17, 1926, Elfriede von Bodmershof married the anthropologist Rolf Freiherr von Ehrenfels (after his conversion to Islam in 1927 he called himself “Omar”), the brother of the writer Imma von Bodmershof , who in turn married Elfriede's brother Wilhelm von Bodmershof in 1925. After Omar Rolf had to emigrate from Austria in 1938 and Elfriede did not follow him, the marriage ended in divorce in the late 1940s.

Elfriede Ehrenfels and her husband were friends with the writer Lew Nussimbaum , who wrote under the pseudonym "Mohammed Essad-Bey" (also "Esad Be"). When Nussimbaum was banned from publishing in Germany in 1936, he moved to Austria. The novel Ali and Nino then appeared in a Viennese publishing house under the pseudonym " Kurban Said " (also "Qûrbân Saîd"). This story describes the love of a young Muslim in Azerbaijan for a Christian raised girl from Georgia on the eve of the Russian Revolution . In older editions of Ali and Nino and in many literary encyclopedias to this day, Kurban Said is given as the pseudonym of Baroness Elfriede Ehrenfels von Bodmershof. Lew Nussimbaum's biographer, Tom Reiss , categorically rules out the authorship of Elfriede Ehrenfels. This is by no means claimed by her heirs either: Leela Ehrenfels notes that the existing documents clearly identify Elfriede Ehrenfels as the owner of the pseudonym Kurban Said , but she leaves the question of authorship open. There is no clear evidence of who the novel ultimately came from. The contracts with the publisher, however, are signed by Elfriede Ehrenfels. In the opinion of the family’s former lawyer, Heinz Barazon, joint authorship is likely. Nussimbaum, from Baku and later converted to Islam in Berlin, may have contributed the idea and a few chapters. Elfriede Ehrenfels, through her husband Omar, who converted to Islam in 1927, also dealt with the area of ​​tension in which the novel is set, and could have completed the book. In Azerbaijan, where the book Ali and Nino is one of the popular classics, the politician and writer Yusif Vəzir Çəmənzəminli is associated with the pseudonym Kurban Said. Although he lived in Berlin in the 1920s, he could hardly speak German well enough to write a novel in that language.

Ali and Nino became a great success in Germany as well as in Austria and saw many new editions (in 2000 by Ullstein and 2002 by List), including the follow-up novel Das Mädchen vom Goldenen Horn was sold under this pseudonym in 1938 (most recently reissued by Matthes & Seitz ). Ali and Nino alone are said to have appeared in 30 languages ​​and experienced over 100 new editions. The rights holder is Leela Ehrenfels, the daughter of Omar Rolf von Ehrenfels and his second wife Mireille Abeille, who inherited the copyrights from Elfriede after Elfriede Ehrenfels died childless.

literature

  • Said, Kurban . 1937 [pseud.], S. Ehrenfels v. Bodmershof, Elfriede. In: German General Catalog, New Titles 1935–1939, Volume S. Staatsbibliothek, P. 5336, 1940.
  • Who Was Kurban Said? In: Die Welt , October 28, 2000.

Web links

Commons : Ali and Nino  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b azer.com
  2. ↑ Said, Kurban aka Elfriede von Ehrenfels; Elfriede Ehrenfels von Bodmershof (1894–1982)
  3. ↑ Who was Kurban Said? In: Die Welt , October 28, 2000.
  4. ↑ Tom Reiss: The Orientalist. In the footsteps of Essad Bey . Osburg publishing house, Berlin 2008
  5. ↑ Amardeep Singh: The strange case of “Kurban Said” . Lehigh University, February 26, 2005; Retrieved October 1, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Ehrenfels, Elfriede
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bodmershof, Elfriede von (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Trieste
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1982