Hedda Wagner

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Hedda Wagner (born January 21, 1876 in Niedernhart , † March 24, 1950 in Linz ), Hedwig Elisabeth Maria Wagner , was an Austrian writer , composer , music teacher and women's rights activist .

Life

Hedda Wagner was the daughter of a doctor and grew up in a middle-class manner and without financial hardship. Her father was a free thinker and did not feel that he belonged to any denomination; this thinking shaped the young Maria. According to her talents and financial possibilities, she learned several foreign languages, such as English , French, Italian, Russian, Czech, Latin , Greek, Hebrew, and later also Sanskrit . After attending private training institutions, she passed the state examination for piano, music theory and composition theory with honors in Vienna in 1896 .

In 1912 she became a member of the SDAP and was active in their state education committee. From 1912 to 1929 Wagner worked as a freelancer for the social democratic “Tagblatt” in Linz, then until 1934 as a permanent employee. In 1923 she took over the editing of the daily women's supplement to the daily newspaper, for which she wrote serial novels, newspaper articles and short stories. Here she took up everyday topics, contributed to the entertainment and spoke about future ideas, values ​​and hopes of women.

She retired in 1934 when the government banned her from writing .

Hedda Wagner remained unmarried and lived with her mother. With her death in 1927 she lost her financial security. After 1938 she lived on rental income from her home, from tutoring and giving music lessons.

Act

Hedda Wagner experienced the times of the Habsburg monarchy , the First World War, the First Republic, the National Socialist dictatorship, the Second World War and the immediate post-war period. Shaped by this, she devoted herself to historical research on women and gender, combined with the intellectual currents and political debates of her time, such as expressionism and socialism. Wagner was initially the Social Democrats close, but reading turned to the prohibition of the party in 1933 and under the influence of Arthur Schopenhauer the Buddhism to.

Her first artistic work was done before the First World War. At first he wrote dramatic stories, later novels and poetry. In doing so, she took a stance on the political conflicts of her time and showed her aversion to social inequality and violence. She came to reject the war , which sometimes led to bans and censorship of her works.

In 1928 a collection of 65 poems was published under the title In the sign of the red carnation , some of which were set to music. In the 1930s she occupied herself more with literature and music. In total, Wagner wrote 15 novels and 259 songs. Only a few of her musical works, such as “The Game of the Last War”, 1924, were performed.

Her work was not widely recognized until after 1945, and she was honored with a Hedda Wagner celebration in Linz in 1947. After that, she gained regional attention as a local poet, but was no longer really happy about this late recognition due to an illness and survived privations.

Merit

Hedda Wagner taught people through her works the courage to lead a self-determined life and "to live a life apart from all conventions, not to get confused by the slogans of their time and to remain true to their ideals until the end of their lives."

Hedda Wagner was acquainted with the Jewish doctor Eduard Bloch , the former family doctor of Adolf Hitler's mother. She dedicated a novel to him in 1935/1936.

Works

  • (Translator): Old and New Critique of Buddhism . In: Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya: The three characteristics . O. Schloss, Munich-Neubiberg 1924 DNB
  • Under the sign of the red carnation. Poems for party celebrations . Linz people's bookstore "Gutenberg", Linz 1928 OBV
  • City of Flames. A novel from old Linz . Ibis-Verlag, Linz 1946 OBV

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Literary criticism Unknown Austrian artist personality presented at literaturkritik.de, accessed on May 9, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Wagner, Hedda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian composer, poet, women's rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Linz
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1950
Place of death Linz