Elisabeth Lafite

Elisabeth Lafite with daughter Marion, 1995

Elisabeth Lafite (born June 16, 1918 in Brno ; † October 16, 2007 in Vienna ; née Walter ) was an Austrian editor and publisher .

Life

Elisabeth Lafite's father was Anton Walter (1882–1976); he was section head in the Federal Ministry of Finance and general director of the tobacco control department until Austria was annexed . Her mother was Julie Walter (1893–1984); she also had a sister: Juliane (1921–1980).

Elisabeth Lafite graduated from high school in 1937. After the outbreak of the Second World War , she worked for the Schoeller-Bleckmann steelworks . After the end of the war she became the secretary of Franz Stoss (Theater in der Josefstadt). In 1947 she married Peter Lafite (1908–1951), the son of the composer Carl Lafite , who was employed as a civil servant in the Federal Ministry of Finance and then in the Federal Ministry of Education (for music matters). She had two children with him: Marion (born 1947) and Wolfgang (born 1949), which is why she gave up her job for the time being. When her husband suddenly died, she took over the Austrian music magazine (ÖMZ) , which he founded in 1946. Her full professional activity was made possible by the fact that she remained in the extended family association with parents and sister. Since the autonomy of Austria, it has received sales promotions through additional 'special issues' (1955 State Opera, 1956 Mozart Year, 1957 State Prize Winners for Music and 1958 Representation at Expo 58 in Brussels ). Far-reaching decisions were made in 1962: The publication of 'Landeshefte' of the music magazine for the context of cultural foreign relations; and to edit music books, she obtained the license as "Verlag Elisabeth Lafite". In 1968 she accepted Kurt Blaukopf's offer to integrate the record magazine Phono (1954–1966) into her own editorial work. A secure business basis and personal relationship characterized their approach, which was able to win over various personalities from the composer Joseph Marx to Theodor W. Adorno as an author for the publishing house. In 1972 she played a key role in maintaining the Schönberg House in Mödling through the involvement of the Federal Monuments Office . She was a co-founder of the "International Schönberg Society" (ISG). Her daughter worked in the magazine and publishing company from the mid-1970s, and gradually took over the management.

Elisabeth Lafite and her husband were buried at the Heiligenstädter Friedhof (Part A, Group 4, Number 151) in Vienna.

Elisabeth Lafite's burial place

Memberships and honors

• Board member of the Arnold Schönberg Center Private Foundation
• "Elisabeth-Lafite-Room" of the Mödlinger Schönberg-Haus
• Member of the Vienna Beethoven Society
• Honorary member of the Vienna Mozart Community (1988)
• Member of the International Gluck Society
• Awarded the title "Professor" in 1970
• Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1998

literature

• Elisabeth Lafite: 10 years of the Austrian music magazine in ÖMZ 10/1 (1955), p. 3 f.
• Elisabeth Lafite: The editor in ÖMZ 20/1 (1965), p. 4 f.
• Manfred Wagner , speech on the honor in 1998.
• Marion Diederichs-Lafite, obituary in ÖMZ 62 / 11-12 (2007), p. 79 ff.
• International Schönberg Society, in: ASC 2008 Newsletter 20.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} biography. Retrieved July 12, 2010 .