Stella K. Hershan

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Stella Kreidl Hershan

Stella Kreidl Hershan (born February 7, 1915 in Vienna ; † August 22, 2014 in New York City ) was an American writer who had emigrated from Austria and wrote in German and English .

Life

Stella Kreidl was born on February 7, 1915 to Jewish , liberal -minded parents in Vienna . Her father Felix Kreidl was a successful businessman, her mother Lucy Kreidl a sensitive and educated woman. Stella grew up safe and carefree in the Hietzing district of Vienna , where she attended the Wenzgasse grammar school.

After discrepancies in a repeat exam, she switched to a language school , where she received lessons in foreign languages and literature . Even then she showed her great talent as a writer with the essay People in the Bar , which appeared in the youth supplement of the renowned Viennese daily Neue Freie Presse .

In November 1933, she married Rudolph Herschan, the owner of a metal construction factory, in a Reformed synagogue on Eitelbergergasse in Hietzing . On July 29, 1937, she gave birth to their daughter Lisa in the Hera sanatorium . Cared for by several servants, her life was initially very pleasant.

But after Austria's "annexation" to the National Socialist German Reich in March 1938, the young family was forced to buy exit papers to flee because of the life-threatening hostility towards citizens of Jewish origin. The adventurous journey led through Switzerland , across France, first to Paris , then to Cherbourg in Normandy , where they boarded the ocean liner Queen Mary full of new hope and confidence . On February 9, 1939, the family finally reached New York Harbor and saw the symbol of freedom .

Until the end of the war in 1945 , the Hershans lived in a modestly furnished apartment in Manhattan . In addition to looking after her child, Stella Hershan took every opportunity to learn the English language. During this time she became aware of Eleanor Roosevelt , the wife of the then President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt , who showed a great understanding of the fate of Jewish immigrants . Hershan's growing admiration for this socially committed first lady would have a profound impact on her later life.

In order to supplement the limited family income, Stella worked after 1941 as a cosmetics saleswoman at Elizabeth Arden . After the end of the war, the Hershans gained a foothold in the Forest Hills district, which is surrounded on three sides by large green spaces . They received American citizenship (the name Herschan was adapted to English: Hershan) and swore the oath on their new home with deep conviction.

In order to fulfill her childhood dream of being a writer, Stella gave up her job and began courses in journalism , history and psychology at a University of New York , which also earned her a certificate in "General Education", then at The New School for Social Research with a degree in “ Employee Relations ”. She then wrote a variety of English texts.

Meeting Eleanor Roosevelt while studying in 1959 inspired Hershan to write two books about this fascinating woman. She also gave tours of Eleanor Roosevelt's former home in Hyde Park, New York .

After the marriage of her daughter Lisa to Allan Grabell and the birth of grandson Larry and granddaughter Sheryl, her husband Rudolph fell seriously ill and died in 1968. Now dependent on herself, she started a job at the international book and magazine publisher Rizzoli-Verlag, Milan .

As head of the German department of the bookstore in New York, she invited well-known personalities to present their latest works as part of “Rizzoli's literary hour”. Among them were Rudolf Bing , Janet Flanner , William Manchester , George R. Marek ( The Eagle Dies; Franz Joseph, Elisabeth, and Their Austria ), existential psychologist Rollo May , Jerzy Kosiński , UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim and many others. She wrote her books mostly at night.

In 1985 she started teaching German at the Berlitz School . She founded the financial magazine Talent , the aim of which was to enable emigrants to work in their original profession. At the same time, she worked as a consultant for ACEP (American Council for Emigres in the Professions), which sought to integrate doctors, lawyers, engineers and musicians. Since there was no opportunity to have a conversation in her mother tongue now and then, Stella Hershan took refuge in writing in German. The foundation stone for an international career as a writer was laid.

When she flew to Vienna in 1972 for the presentation of her book The Naked Angel , her feelings for her former home were still very ambivalent. Rather, they were characterized by a certain satisfaction with what had been achieved. Participation in the annual congress of the PEN Club in Vienna in 1975 and a reception by Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky did not help to overcome their detachment.

Only when her grandson Larry found a loving welcome from a Viennese host family in 1988 as part of an organized invitation from the Jewish Welcome Service Vienna, financed by the Vienna city administration, for 100 grandchildren of former emigrants to “get to know the land of their grandparents”, did the emotional barrier crumble . On later visits to Vienna, she was able to sit down on a bench in the city park to smell the lilac .

Her thoughts now increasingly revolved around Austrian history. She dealt with Marie Antoinette , the daughter of Empress Maria Theresa who was executed in France in 1793, in the 1989 novel Daughter of Revolution . As a fictional letter from Empress Elisabeth to a woman of today, the novel In Friendship, Elisabeth appeared in 1992 in German , which builds a mental bridge to the present.

Washington Square Arch and the Central Fountain in the park

With the support of her daughter Lisa's family, at the age of 83 she dared to work as a lecturer, especially her books for German-speaking passengers, on various Cunard Line cruise ships up to the year 2000. She got to know many people and European countries.

In 1999, Stella Hershan's granddaughter-in-law Ellen, wife of her grandson Larry, gave birth to triplets, making Hershan great-grandmother. In 2001 she was the four-time great-grandmother of girls. Both Larry, who knows how to prepare Kaiserschmarren and Sachertorte , and her granddaughter Sheryl cultivate Austrian traditions in deep Arizona .

This enormous support in her family gave Hershan the strength to continue to write and teach despite her advanced age. On the occasion of her 90th birthday, which she was invited to Vienna to celebrate, in February 2005 she opened the exhibition Vienna - New York and back, organized in her honor by the Hietzing Adult Education Center . Federal President Heinz Fischer sent a letter of congratulations. In 2006 her autobiography Memories Between Two Worlds was published .

Until March 2007 she led a weekly language course in New York, "German Conversation", at the Harvard Club of Harvard University . In May 2008, at the invitation of the Austrian initiative A Letter To The Stars , she visited Vienna, where, as a former pupil of the Montessori primary school in Albertgasse in the 8th district, she gave a lecture at the Montessori secondary school in Floridsdorf and answered questions from the pupils Pupil posed.

She last lived in New York's bohemian district of Manhattan, in Greenwich Village , whose flair reminded her of the Grinzing district of Vienna . Hershan's apartment was near Washington Square with a well-tended park and famous arch.

Services

It was particularly important to her to put historical women at the center of her novels and non-fiction books. To do this, she had to do intensive research, since the historical literature deals mainly with men of history. The knowledge she gained enabled her to give lectures on women in history around the world.

The English-language novel The Naked Angel first appeared in German translation in 1972 as Der nackte Engel . (The Russian princess Katharina Bagration- Skawronskaya was so called because of her deep cleavage; she began a love affair with Metternich in Dresden in 1801. ) This novel was translated into Dutch, Italian and Swedish and was a bestseller . In her biographical books on Eleanor Roosevelt , she also describes the positive and influential effects that the President's wife had on other people. To this end, she called on numerous witnesses who reported on her personal, fateful experiences with this charismatic personality.

Works

Novels

  • Der nackte Engel , Roman (original title: The Naked Angel London 1973, translated by Ursula Heim), Molden, Vienna / Munich 1984, ISBN 3-217-00327-6 .
  • Daughter of revolution . Munich. 1989
  • In friendship, Elisabeth. Epistle novel. Mountain on Lake Starnberg. 1992
  • The Maiden of Kosovo : a novel. New York. 2003

Non-fiction

  • A woman of quality. A biography of Eleonor Roosevelt. New York. 1970
  • The Candles She Lit: The Legacy of Eleonor Roosevelt. Embossers. 1993
  • Emigration: A Book for Peace ; Exile stories. Munich. 2004
  • Memories between two worlds. Exile narratives. Munich. 2006

Newspaper articles

  • My visit with Mrs. Roosevelt. New York. 1961

Awards

literature

Translations

Audio books

Remarks

  1. ↑ Death notice in the New York Times, August 31, 2014
  2. ↑ Main source for this article (Gryphon ISBN 3-937800-67-0 )

Web links

Commons : Stella K. Hershan  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Hershan, Stella K.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hershan, Stella Kreidl; Hershan, Stella
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 22nd August 2014
Place of death New York City