ELSE’S STORY

The path of an emancipated Jewish woman through the turmoil of the 20th century

Katrin Richter’s biographical novel tells a true story. The author, who in professional life works at the Bauhaus University Weimar, tells the story of Else Goldschmidt, the world’s first female stock broker. Her life is one of expectation, emancipation and passion, but she also experiences financial worries, migration and homelessness. It is marked by coincidence and moments of great daring. Else Goldschmidt, born in Berlin in 1898, died in Johannesburg in 1975 as Else Hirsch. Between these two events lie seventy-seven years of an extraordinary life. An accidental discovery brought her story to light, which was published last year in the book ‘ELSE'S STORY. Aus dem Leben der ersten Börsenmaklerin der Welt’ (The Life of the World’s First Woman Stockbroker) by the student publisher LUCIA Verlag. A bilingual reading in English and German of ‘ELSE'S STORY’ conveys the life beset by upheaval and crises of Else Goldschmidt, a figure who epitomises the emancipated woman of the Weimar Republic. The event is a contribution to a living culture of remembrance and will be accompanied with music by the accordion duo con:trust from Weimar University of Music. The reading on August 25th will be followed by a talk with the author chaired by Anja Zachow (Thuringian State Agency for Civic Education).