Mabel Zuppinger

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Mabel Zuppinger-Westermann (pseudonym: Claudine) (born April 1, 1897 in Austria ; † November 11, 1978 in Rüschlikon ) was a Swiss journalist and author . From 1933 she was in charge of the women's website for Weltwoche . From 1938 to 1953 she was de facto and from 1953 to 1959 also nominal editor-in-chief of Annabelle .

Because of her elegant appearance, she was known as "Coco Chanel of Zurich".

Life

Mabel Westermann's father, a Swiss factory owner in Austria who went bankrupt, sent the young Mabel to her grandmother in Switzerland to attend schools there. Here she met her husband, Alfons Zuppinger (1893–1954), a lawyer who was supposed to save the troubled Weltwoche and its founders Karl von Schumacher and Manuel Gasser from bankruptcy. Like Gasser, he had an 8% stake in Weltwoche, the rest was owned by Schumacher.

He first hired Mabel Zuppinger as a secretary and then handed over the editing of the section “The woman and her home” to her. She wrote as "Claudine", a name she had found on the French author Colette , about fashion, her garden, her dogs and immediately became a household name. She took part in all the editorial meetings, and everyone waited until Ms. Zuppinger asked the legendary question: "Does that interest people?" And: "Does it belong in the newspaper?" “If not, don't publish”. With these simple questions, the editorial staff often brought them back down to earth. Thanks to Zuppinger, the newspaper opened up and included more everyday topics.

In 1938 von Schumacher and Gasser founded the first classic women's magazine in Switzerland, Annabelle, based on the French Elle . The journalistic concept, in particular the idea of ​​making the magazine the “girlfriend of all women”, came from Mabel Zuppinger. Gasser and von Schumacher made her the editor of Annabelle ; she was supposed to repeat the success of her women's page in Weltwoche there . She succeeded above all after the Second World War ; the war had led to the failure of the Paris fashion designers, who were extremely important for the magazine. Zuppinger, who the Weltwoche bosses initially did not trust to lead an editorial office, turned out to be a skilled improviser. From 1953 she was also nominally listed as editor-in-chief of Annabelle .

As the first all-women magazine in Switzerland, it brought topics such as fashion and film stars, children and books, cosmetics and cooking recipes, advice on life issues and female problems, work and lifestyle with great success. Under the pseudonym "Claudine", for example, Zuppinger mocked the "fake Audrey Hepburns and Marilyn Monroes" or the "age of blurring, harmonization, standardization".

Mabel Zuppinger continued to take care of Weltwoche and its women’s website. When Karl von Schumacher got too sick to run the business, she was the driving force behind his brother, Pierre von Schumacher, director of the Shell Company in Venezuela . However, she got on badly with him, who, unlike the artistically interested Mabel Zuppinger, followed a primarily commercial line. When Pierre von Schumacher decided that the publication would be changed from monthly to bi-weekly in view of the large number of advertisers, she left the magazine at the end of 1959. After that she shied away from the public, lived very withdrawn in Rüschlikon and also gave up going to the opera and the theater. She mainly took care of her garden. In 1978 Werner Wollenberger tried in vain to bring her back to Annabelle as "Claudine" .

Mabel's close friends included many well-known artists and writers of her time such as Annemarie Schwarzenbach , Marianne Breslauer , Therese Giehse and Marie-Louise Bodmer . She was the mentor of Franca Magnani . She died lonely in 1978. Only six people were present at her abdication. She didn't have any children. Her hobbies were fashion, the garden, the theater, operas and dogs.

Works

  • Claudine's garden year. E. Hartmann, Küsnacht 1967.
  • My green heart. The breviary of the small, blooming world around us and of the inner wealth that it gives. Illustrations by Hanni Fries. Scherz, Bern 1964.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabine Bitter: “Annabelle” - women's magazine turns 75. In: Radio SRF 2 Kultur . 1st of March 2013.
  2. ^ René Lüchinger : The Coco Chanel of journalism. In: Swiss journalist . Double number 12 / 2017-01 / 2018, p. 44 ff.
  3. ↑ Kim Otto, Andreas Köhler: Quality in economic journalism. Springer, Berlin 2017.
  4. ↑ The decision to found a monthly women's magazine in 1938, according to Mabel Zuppinger, was made over their heads and also by men. Quoted in: Melanie Hediger: The image of the Swiss woman in Swiss magazines. Academic Press Friborg / Paulusverlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-7278-1505-1 , p. 61 f. (also licentiate thesis at the University of Freiburg ).
  5. ↑ Are you beautiful enough? In: Annabelle. No. 8, August 1958.
  6. ↑ Dreams of Men. In: Annabelle. No. 6, June 1957, p. 36.
  7. ↑ Alice Pechriggl: Hegemony and the Power of Images (= Alice Pechriggl, Anna Schober (Hrsg.): Klagenfurt Contributions to Visual Culture. Vol. 3). Herbert von Halem Verlag, Cologne 2014.
  8. ^ Mabel Zuppinger "Claudine": Thanks and Farewell. In: Annabelle. No. 265, December 1959, p. 91.
  9. ↑ Manuel Gasser: Farewell to Claudine. In: Annabelle. No. 265, December 1959, p. 91.
  10. ↑ a b Daniele Muscionico: Forgotten Grande Dame. In: Die Weltwoche . October 16, 2013, accessed May 26, 2018.
  11. ^ Werner Wollenberger: Memory of Claudine. In: Annabelle. No. 25, December 14, 1978, p. 127, Gazette p. 3.
personal data
SURNAME Zuppinger, Mabel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zuppinger-Westermann, Mabel (full name); Claudine (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss-Austrian journalist
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Austria
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1978
Place of death Rüschlikon