Sophia Goudstikker

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Sophia Goudstikker
File:Sophia Goudstikker crop 1898.jpg
Born
In 1898 at Atelier Elvira

(1865-01-15)15 January 1865
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Died20 March 1924(1924-03-20) (aged 59)
Munich, Germany
NationalityDutch and German
Occupation(s)photographer, women's rights activist
Years active1889–1924
Known forfirst single woman to obtain a royal license for photography

Sophia Goudstikker (15 January 1865 – 20 March 1924) was a Dutch-born German photographer and feminist pioneer. She was one of the premier women's rights activists in Munich at the turn of the century and a business partner and companion of Anita Augspurg. When their partnership dissolved, Goudstikker became a more moderate feminist and partnered with Ika Freudenberg. Goudstikker was the inspiration for three different writers' depictions of a more masculine woman, who defied typical feminine characterizations. She was the first unmarried German woman to obtain a royal license for photography and the first German woman allowed to argue cases before the youth court.

Early life

Sophia Goudstikker was born on 15 January 1865 in Rotterdam, Netherlands to Grietje (née Klisser) and Salomon Elias Goudstikker.[1][2] In 1867, the family left Rotterdam and settled in Hamburg, Germany. They left thereafter with the youngest children and moved to Dresden, where Salomon died in 1892.[2] Goudstikker attended an art school in Dresden, which was directed by Anita Augspurg′s sister and the two young women met, when Anita came to Dresden for a visit. Augspurg and Goudstikker determined that Munich would be open to a business enterprise run by women and relocated[3] after Augspurg inherited her grandmother's estate.[4]

Career and feminism

Goudstikker and Augspurg arrived in Munich and founded[5] the Hofatelier Elvira in 1887.[6] Goudstikker was the first German woman, who was not married, to obtain a royal license for photography. The studio became a meeting place for the avant-garde[7] and was frequented by many noted figures. Isadora Duncan,[8] Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg,[9] Rainer Maria Rilke,[10] and other artists, intellectuals and royalty had their photographs taken there.[7][11] In 1898 the partnership dissolved and Goudstikker ran the studio alone until 1908.[12] She hired the architect, August Endell to design the studio, at #15 Von-der-Tann-Straße, which became quite noted. The turquoise and violet Art Nouveau façade with a stylized dragon in bas-relief was a recognizable landmark.[13] Goudstikker's younger sister Mathilde Nora, often called Nora, joined her to work as a photographer.[14] Near the end of her life, Goudstikker leased the business to the photographer Emma Uibleisen, but World War I and its aftermath had dispersed the traditional clientele.[15]

File:Atelier (Hofatelier) Elvira.jpg
Atelier (Hofatelier) Elvira

As their photography business grew, the two women became staunch feminists.[3] Goudstikker and Augspurg were interested in redefining women's spaces. Goudstikker wore short hair and simple, relaxed clothing[16] and projected what seemed to contemporaries to be a female masculinity. She was the inspiration of characters such as "Hans" in Lou Andreas-Salomé′s Mädchenreign,[17] "she" in Frieda von Bülow [de]′s She and He[18] and "Box" in Ernst von Wolzogen′s novel The Third Sex.[17] Diary entries of Salomé and Bülow confirm that Goudstikker was the muse for all three characters[19] and they gave Goudstikker the nickname "Puck".[20] In 1889, Goudstikker and Augspurg joined the movement to open university study to women, German Women for Reform, and then the following year, joined the Modern Life Society to advance modernity into social and artistic realms for women. The meetings of both organizations were kept under surveillance by police, who believed that they fostered immorality and breached the ban on women's political involvement.[21] Augspurg was often the speaker, while Goudstikker's job was to convince the authorities that the meetings were not for the purpose of political agitation.[22] Goudstikker died in Munich on 20 March 1924.[23]

Legacy

A park in Munich Ramersdorf is named after her.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Rotterdam City Archives 1865, p. A051.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Steinhäuser 2005.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lybeck 2014, p. 55.
  4. ↑ Salokar & Volcansek 1996, pp. 31–32.
  5. ↑ Muellner 2006, p. 185.
  6. ↑ German National Library 2016.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wildenthal 2001, p. 66.
  8. ↑ Seidel 2015, p. 153.
  9. ↑ Delcampe Luxembourg 2016.
  10. ↑ Freedman 1998, p. 57.
  11. ↑ Hand 2008, p. 120.
  12. ↑ Pfeiffer 2014, p. 26.
  13. ↑ Pfeiffer 2014, pp. 26–27.
  14. ↑ Freedman 1998, p. 58.
  15. ↑ Haider 2006, p. 143-148.
  16. ↑ Lybeck 2014, p. 51.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lybeck 2014, p. 52.
  18. ↑ Lybeck 2014, p. 75.
  19. ↑ Lybeck 2014, p. 61.
  20. ↑ Lybeck 2014, p. 49.
  21. ↑ Lybeck 2014, pp. 56–57.
  22. ↑ Lybeck 2014, p. 56.
  23. ↑ Naturmuseum Senckenberg 2016.
  24. ↑ "S. Goudstikker Park · Oggersheimer Str. 11, 81539 München, Germany". S. Goudstikker Park · Oggersheimer Str. 11, 81539 München, Germany.

Further reading

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