Ellen Hellmann

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Ellen Phyllis Hellmann (born August 25, 1908 in Johannesburg , † November 6, 1982 in Johannesburg) was a South African social anthropologist . In the course of the 1930s and 1940s , she researched the living conditions of black population groups in inner-city areas from a sociological perspective, thus doing pioneering work in this area. Her far-reaching socio-political work was based on broad ideas about aspects of justice and equal opportunities and was thus in theDissent to the apartheid policy of their country.

youth

Ellen Hellmann was the child of Germans of Jewish origin . Her father Bernard Kaumheimer came to Johannesburg as an orphan from Bavaria at the age of 16 in 1894 , where a cousin found him a job. In 1906 he married Ellen's mother Chlothilde Theilheimer. Ellen Hellmann spent her childhood in the Johannesburg district of Berea and later in Houghton . The economic circumstances of her parental home made it possible to travel to her grandparents in Germany several times .

According to her own statements, Ellen Hellmann grew up without any religious influence. Her parents left the Jewish community at Wolmarans Street Synagogue during World War I and lived according to secular patterns. Ellen Hellmann's Zionist interest with a socialist character only developed as a counter-position to the perception of Hitler's rise to power in the homeland of her ancestors. Before that she had not noticed the work of Jewish communities in her environment. Ellen's sister, Enid Gordon, was involved in the Women's Zionist Organization , but later emigrated to Israel .

education

Ellen Hellmann went to school at Barnato Park High School in Johannesburg-Berea and graduated from Commercial High School .

After school she enrolled at the Witwatersrand University with the aim of obtaining a bachelor's degree in English and psychology. Unfavorable learning conditions prompted her to switch to social anthropology . This brought Hellmann together with Agnes Winifred Hoernlé , who is considered the “mother” of social anthropology in South Africa. Her lecturer persuaded her to undertake research among slum dwellers on the outskirts of downtown Johannesburg.

Ellen Hellmann earned a master's degree with a thesis on the Rooiyard slum area in New Doornfontein (immediately east of the Johannesburg CBD ). At that time 376 inhabitants (235 adults, 141 children) lived here, for whom there were two water intake points and six latrines . With the help of John Chavafambira as a communicator for the Rooiyard community, she developed considerable methodological expertise , the results of which were printed in 1948 at the instigation of the director of the Rhodes Livingstone Institute , Max Gluckman . This field work is considered to be a pioneering achievement in the investigation of the proletarianization process in the black urban population under the economically tense conditions of the interwar period ( Great Depression ). 1940 doctorate ( Ph.D. ) them at the Witwatersrand University on the phenomenon of early school leaving among black students.

Act

Due to her great interest in social issues, Hellmann developed as a young scientist a comprehensive commitment on a broad basis of activity. She taught sociology at the Jan Hofmeyr School of Social Work and trained black social workers here. She also worked in the Johannesburg Joint Council of Europeans and Africans (German: "Joint Committee for Europeans and Bantu"), which acted as a multi-ethnic coordinating council in this city. Here the young scientist initially took on the role of secretary and later the chair. She was treasurer for the African Welfare Center ( Entokozweni ) in the township of Alexandra and in 1937 she helped found the Society for Jews and Christians .

At the Urban Native Juvenile Delinquency Conference (German: "Conference on 'black' juvenile delinquency in cities") in Johannesburg in October 1938, she reported on the framework and learning conditions in the township schools in the Orlando , Pimville , North-West Township districts and Sophiatown . She explained that only about 40% of the children (7,000 pupils) were given schooling here. Their teachers were underpaid and insufficiently trained. Class sizes of up to 64 students were common; many of them left school prematurely with no qualifications.

After she was elected to the Executive Council of the Jewish Board of Deputies in 1940 , she represented socialist Zionism among other positions . The worsening political situation in South Africa in view of South African participation in the war against Nazi Germany resulted in increasing polarization in South African society. Within the Jewish Board , she was elected to its Public Relations Committee , which led a campaign against anti-Semitism , mainly against the activities of the fascist Greyshirt movement. She was motivated to do this by the memories of her mother and the loss of family members in the Holocaust .

From the start of her research at Witwatersrand University in 1953, Ellen Hellmann was under surveillance by the South African Police, right down to her private life . Police interest in her arose because she was on friendly terms with other political activists in everyday university life, for example with Bloke Modisane and Ismail Jacob Mohamed , who also met in their house.

In 1956, Hellmann took part in the Defense and Aid Fund's support activities during the Treason Trial . As a publicly known person in top positions at the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) and thanks to her recognized great scientific reputation, she was able to critically follow the activities of government commissions with written statements. In the period from 1955 and 1956 she turned against proposals of the Tomlinson Commission , which provided for the establishment of "Bantustans" (later Homelands ). During this time she was President of the SAIRR and from this position was able to address critical issues with great publicity.

family

In March 1932 (according to other information in 1936) she married Joseph Michael Hellmann, a lawyer who had emigrated from Eastern Europe . In this marriage in 1936 she gave birth to their only child, Ruth . After her husband died in March 1941, she initially remained a single parent.

In 1948 she married Bodo EH Koch for a second time. He came as a Jewish refugee from Germany, where he had worked as a surgeon . In 1977 he diagnosed Robert Sobukwe with lung disease . Her marriage to Bodo Koch was childless.

Ellen Hellmann's sister Inez had been involved in Zionist politics in South Africa. However, when apartheid policy increasingly encroached on civil society, it emigrated to Israel in the 1950s .

Memberships and Activities

Honors

  • 1970 Royal African Society's medal for “dedicated service to Africa” (in gold) by the British Chargé d'Affaires in South Africa.
  • 1978, Doctor of Laws , Witwatersrand University (according to other sources awarded in 1968)

Works

  • Early school leaving among African school children and the occupational opportunities open to the African juveniles . Johannesburg 1939 (Ph.D. Wits dissertation)
  • Problems of Urban Bantu Youth . Johannesburg 1940 (results of doctorate 1940)
  • Rooiyard: A Sociological Survey of an Urban Native Slum Yard . ( Rhodes-Livingstone Institute , Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia) Cape Town 1948 (newly published 1969 and 1986, The Rhodes-Livingstone papers , No. 13)
  • Edited with Leah Abrahams: Handbook on Race Relations in South Africa . Oxford University Press , Cape Town, London New York, 1949
  • Racial Laws versus Economic and Social Forces. (A review of a quarter-century of the Union's racial policies: 1930–1955. Presidential address ). Johannesburg 1955
  • In defense of a shared society . Johannesburg 1956
  • The effect of industrialization on social structure and family life . Johannesburg 1967
  • Soweto: Johannesburg's African city . Johannesburg 1971

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Veronica-Sue Belling: Recovering the Lives of South African Jewish Women During the Migration Years, c1880-1939 . Dissertation for Ph.D. at UCT , Department of Historical Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Cape Town 2013, PDF document p. 171, online at www.open.uct.ac.za (English)
  2. ^ Veronica-Sue Belling: Recovering the Lives . Diss. 2013, PDF document p. 175, online at www.open.uct.ac.za (English)
  3. ^ Veronica-Sue Belling: Recovering the Lives . Diss. 2013, PDF document p. 185, online at www.open.uct.ac.za (English)
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Milton Shain, Miriam Pimstone: Ellen Phyllis Hellman . In: Jewish Women's Archive, at www.jwa.org (English)
  5. ^ A b c d e South African History Online : Ellen Phyllis Hellman . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)
  6. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, p. 127
  7. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, p. 128
  8. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, p. 136
  9. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, p. 142
  10. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, p. 142
  11. ^ Veronica-Sue Belling: Recovering the Lives . Diss. 2013, PDF document p. 178, online at www.open.uct.ac.za (English)
  12. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . PDF document p. 12, online at www.cambridge.org (English)
  13. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, pp. 127, 137
  14. ^ A b Evert J. Verwey, Human Sciences Research Council: New Dictionary of South African Biography . Volume 1. HSRC Press, Pretoria 1995, pp. 96-97 ISBN 0-7969-1648-9
  15. ^ Andrew Bank: Pioneers of the Field . 2016, p. 137
  16. ^ University of the Witwatersrand: Honorary Degrees . at www.wits.ac.za (English)
  17. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
  18. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
  19. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
  20. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence
  21. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
  22. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
  23. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
  24. ↑ copac: bibliographical evidence .
personal data
SURNAME Hellmann, Ellen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hellmann, Ellen Phyllis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African sociologist and anti-apartheid activist
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1982
Place of death Johannesburg , South Africa