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- Herausgeber: ibidem
- Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
This engaging and insightful book is the first historical study in English portraying the lives and fates of Czech women. The seven life stories, ranging from the late 19th century to the present day, expose the often cruel political history of Bohemia (19th century), the Czech lands in Czechoslovakia (20th century), and the Czech Republic (20th–21st century) through the eyes of prominent women whose acts and deeds on behalf of their fellow citizens remain unforgotten in the Czech collective mind. The three chapters and four oral history interviews offer a captivating insight into how the situation of Czech women in society has changed during a most eventful period of history. This book has been preceded by a first volume on Slovak women (ISBN 9783838206387) whose lives have been of the same singular importance for Slovakia as their Czech counterparts were for their country. The two volumes are separate entities in their own right, but together provide the reader with a comprehensive picture of women's lives in the Czech lands and Slovakia, stressing the distinct political circumstances Czech and Slovak women have faced in recent history.
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Table of Contents
Dedication
Inmemoriam Eva ‘Mimi’Jiránková (1921–2015)
This study is dedicated to Czech women in particular and women in general, wherever they live. Two of them are particularly dear to me: Marta Neracher taught me Czech in the late 1980s and sent me off to study at theletní škola(Summer School of Bohemian Studies) at Charles University – a summer month in Prague in 1991 that would crucially determine my life as a scholar specializing in Czechoslovak history. Thanks to my knowledge of Czech, I eventually met Mimi. Every day, I missMimi’soptimism,straightforwardness and black humour, her happy and energetic voice. We used to talk about Czech and world politics on the phone at least once a week. When we spent time together walking in Prague, Mimi used to explain to me how that particular house or that particular corner looked in Masaryk’s Republic and how it changed during the German occupation. Her witty and enlightened comments about what was happeningdomataught me a lot about Czech politics in the 20thand 21stcenturies. Dearest Marta, thankfully we will still meet up for our traditional cup of tea and talk about Czech literature and our lives as scholars at the university. Dearest Mimi – we all follow.
Abbreviations
CCCentral Committee of the Communist Party
CSCECommission for Security and Cooperation in Europe
ČNBČeská Národní Banka – Czech National Bank
ČSČKČeskoslovenský Červený Kříž – Czechoslovak Red Cross
ČSNSČeskoslovenská Strana Národně Socialistická – Czechoslovak National Socialist Party
ČSSČeskoslovenská Strana Socialistická– Czechoslovak Socialist Party
ČSTVČeskoslovenský Svaz Tělesné Výchovy a Sportu – Czechoslovak Association for Physical Education and Sport
FTVSFakulta Telesné Výchovy a Sportu – Faculty ofPhysical Education and Sport
HZDSHnutie Za Demokratické Slovensko – MovementFora Democratic Slovakia
KSČKommunistická Strana Československá – Czechoslovak CommunistParty
KSSKommunistická Strana Slovenska – Slovak Communist Party
MNVMístní národní výbor – local branch of the Czechoslovak National Council
NAMNon-Alignment Movement
NBČSNárodní Banka Československá – Czechoslovak National Bank
ODSObčanská Demokratická Strana – Civic Democratic Party
OFObčanské Forum – Civic Forum
OSSOffice of Strategic Services
OSCEOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
SAVSlovenská Akademie Vied – Slovak Academy of Sciences
SBČSStátní Banky Československé – Czechoslovak state banks
SNKSlovenská Národná Knižnica, Martin – The Slovak National Library, Martin, Slovak Republic
SNRSlovenská Národná Ráda – Slovak National Council
SNPSlovenské Národné Povstanie –Slovak National Uprising
StBStátní Bezpečnost – State Security Service
ÚV KSČÚstřední výbor Kommunistické Strany Československá – CentralCommittee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party
VPNVerejnosť Proti Násilie – SocietyAgainstViolence
ŽNRŽenská Národní Ráda – Czechoslovak National Women’s Council
Foreword
Josette Baer’s book is a very interesting undertaking, which offers an insight into the volatile history of the 20thcentury, through to the present day, in the Czech lands and, in a wider context, also in Europe and the world, through the fates and activities of seven women. The author set herself the difficult task of presenting women of various professions, who originated from different backgrounds and distinguished themselves also in their significance in the international context. What they all have in common, though, are their humanism andattemptsto promote these values. Also, the women portrayed do not let themselves get carried away by the historical events, but try to influence them, each one inher ownparticular way.
Josette Baer is an experiencedauthor,her book is most readable and informative. I am no friend of lengthy forewords and explicatory comments. Readers should form their own opinions. In any case, I recommend reading this book carefully and I thank the author for her admirable work. Reading it is very inspiring, offering a deep insight into the subject matter.
Karel Borůvka
Ambassadorof the Czech Republicto Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland, July 2015
Acknowledgements
This volume is the second of a two volume project of Czech and Slovak History seen through the eyes of women.The first volumeSeven Slovak Womenwaspublished in April 2015.
ThisvolumeSeven Czech Womenis a study in its own right, focussing on Czech women’s life histories. Owing to the peculiar history of the Czech lands before and after the Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1992), the seven portraits explain the specific political circumstances Czech women were facing from the late 19thcentury to the present day.Seven Czech WomenandSeven Slovak Womenprovide the reader with a comprehensive picture of women’s lives in Central Europe; the volumes can explain, to some extent, thedisparatedevelopment and political and cultural identity of Czech and Slovak women.
My thanks.I am greatly indebted to my colleagues and friends for their interest in my research and willingness to discuss specific issues with me. My thanks, in alphabetical order, go toZdeněk V. David, Markéta Doležalová, Blanka Hajnová, Kristina Larischová,Radka Handlová,Vladimír Handl,Thomas Hardmeier,Adis Merdzanovic,Slavomír Michálek,Miroslav Michela, Daniel E. Miller,Marta Neracher, Marie Neudorflová, Libora Oates-Indruchová,Francis D. Raška, Nikola Todorović and Martin Vadas.The ladies at the Prague National Library Clementinum were very professional and went to great lengths to help me with finding the source material crucial for this volume.
Karel Borůvka, theAmbassador of the Czech Republic to Switzerland, supported thisbookfrom the start,and I am honoured that he agreed to write the preface. Valerie Lange at ibidem publishers in Stuttgart is an exceptionally patient, effective andsupportive editor. Peter Thomas Hill proofread the manuscript, perennially soldiering on with the demanding task of teaching me English that is up to his own high standards.
I would like to express my gratitude and respect to the ladies who agreed to participate in my oral history interviews, which, to some, meant goingback in history to remember painful events. Nataša Lišková, Tereza Maxová, and Terezie Sverdlínová, youresprit, commitment, modesty, beauty, honesty and intellect are inspiring – you are in a league of your own. Sadly, Eva ‘Mimi’ Jiránková, my great friend,can no more witness the publication of this volume. Mimi passed away peacefully on 26 April 2015 at the age of 93 at her Devon home, surrounded by her loving family.
The errors and shortcomings in this volume are my own.
Josette Baer
Zurich, Switzerland, and Prague, Czech Republic,August2015
I. Ema Destinn (1878–1930) – a Bohemian in New York
“What Czech Would Not LoveMusic.”[19]
I. 1Thehistorical context
On 26 February 1878,whenEmilie Kittlová (later Ema Destinn) was born in Prague,Tomáš Masaryk(1850–1937),[20]a young Doctor of Philosophy, was on the way toNew York to join his fiancéeCharlotte Garrigue(1850–1923), who was recovering from an accident. They had met in Leipzig in 1877, where he had been enrolled in postdoctoral studies in economics and philosophy. The young American woman from a protestant family, which was progressive with regard to women’s rights, was a talented pianist. Her family was wealthy, and Charlotte had enrolled at the Leipzig Conservatory, planning to train as a concert pianist.[21]She would give up her career plans to be the wife of the Czech philosopher, with whom she shared common views about religion, social issues, and politics. On 15 March 1878 Charlie, as her parents called her, and Tomáš married in New York. They returned to Vienna, where Masarykbegan to write his second post-doctoral thesis. He had submitted his first one shortly before he learnt about Charlie’s accident. He had rushed to theUSAand could not attend hispost-doctoral thesis’defence,therefore, his first thesis had become invalid. Little didVienna Universityand the Austrian authorities know that the philosopher from a working-class background who was teaching at high schools for a low salary would lead the Czechs and Slovaks to sovereigntyin a common state calledCzechoslovakia, ending five centuries of Habsburg rule in Central Europe in1918.
The career and life of the talented Emilie Kittlová are a good illustration of the professional opportunities open to Czech women in the last decades of the 19thcentury, in particular with respect to social mobility. Emilie’s family was of modest means: they were comfortable, but not rich; her talent would make her a millionairess.
Czech delegates to the AustrianReichsratwere trying to push through political rights to counteract the dominance of the German minority in the Czech lands; they were demanding a status of autonomy and self-government within the monarchy’s political framework. In the last two decades of the 19thcentury, mass parties were emerging in the Czech lands that would later compete with each other in the first free elections in 1907. Naturally, women did not yet have the vote; they would gain access tohigher educationandpolitical participationonly in the 20thcentury.
Girls and women from the lower social classes receivedcompulsory primary education and then would find jobs as housemaids, seamstresses, shop assistants, cleaners and cooks – in brief, the usual female occupations in the service of others. Daughters of the aristocracyand girls from families that had achieved some wealth and formed the social stratum of the entrepreneurial middle class were focussed on the two events that would determine their lives:marriageandmotherhood. Girls were taught how to instruct the personnel, oversee a respectable household, bring up childrenand be faithful and supportive wives. To marry well, that is, find a wealthy husband, secured the social and financial standing of the bride and groom’s families. Besides the family, charity was another area where respectable society ladies couldengage in helping the poor in the spirit of Christian love. Thanks to her father, the young Emilie would be able to choose a different life for herself.
Who was Ema Destinn? In this chapter, I will focus on her career as an opera singer, which peaked when she signed a contract with the prestigious Metropolitan Operain New York in 1908. A further important aspect of her life was her patriotic activities during WWI. After 1918, the authorities of the new state, whose creation she had continuously and courageously supported, ignored her, causing a slow and painful decline in her health and mental wellbeing. Ema’s sad life in the Czechoslovak Republic demonstrates how badly Czech society treated the diva who had made the ‘mistake’ of beginning her career under the old monarchy.
I. 2 Emmy or Ema? Destinn’s success, work for independence and decline
Emilie’s father was successful in the mining business and, with hard work and astute financial investments, had acquired some wealth. Emanuel Kittl supported his first-born child in her extraordinary talent for music and literature; he made no difference between girls and boys.
Emilie Kittlová was pretty, witha shock ofdark brown hair, matchingdark brown eyes and perfect fair skin. Her voice was strong yet light, sensitive but also dramatic. She could sing anything; her extraordinary soprano mastered the heavy and lyrical Wagnerian parts as well as the lighter Italian operas ofGiuseppe Verdi(1813–1901) andGiacomo Puccini(1858–1924). Her interpretation of the roles, acting ability and absolute dedication to the music would endear her to the members of the international aristocracyand the wealthy American public attending her performances. She would rise to international stardom under the name of Emmy Destinn.
Ema would translate Italian and German libretti into Czech, andBedřich Smetana(1824–1884)and Antonín Dvořák’s (1841–1904) libretti into German, introducing the music of the most famous Czech composers to an international audience. This was an extraordinary accomplishment since, in the eyes of international opera fans, the Czech lands were but an Austrian province. A laird in Scotland or a millionaire in Oregon knew the Austrian Empire from the map, but had no idea about the Czechs as a nation. To them, the Czech lands were some territory in Central Europe governed by Austria.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756–1791) had experienced, in the 18thcentury, that the Czechs were his most accomplished and educated public. Like Ema, Mozart achieved success abroad, not in his native Salzburg and not at court inVienna, but in Prague, the province of the Austrian monarchy. He deeply appreciated the Czechs’ dedication to music and allegedly said “My people, the citizens of Prague, understand me” (Meine Prager verstehen mich) after the première of his Don Giovanni at theStändetheater(stavovské divadlo) in Prague in 1787; when Mozart was in the Bohemian capital, he used to stay at theVilla Bertrámka, a mansion on the left bank of the Vltava.[22]
Ema would write poetry, plays, fairy tales and memoirs, buy a castle in southern Bohemia, sing Smetana’sLibušefor President Masarykand eventually die alone and impoverished at the age of 51, a month short of her 52ndbirthday.
Young Emilie gave her first performance in public at the age of eight: she played the violin. Music was how the little girl expressed herself. When she signed her first international contract with the Court Opera House in Dresden, Saxony, in 1896, she was 18 years old and had accomplished five years of education in piano, violin, languages and voice. That same year she had attended an audition at theCzech National Theatrein Prague; she was not hired – apparently she was not good enough. Yet, young Ema was determined; she knew that she was extraordinarily talented and did not give up. She received no role while in Dresden, but would make her stage debut a year later at the Court Opera House in Berlin.
The Czech opera houses’ refusal to offer her a contract in the early stages of her career was painful, but steeled her and strengthened her resilience, a quality that would prompt her to try her luck abroad. Ignored at home, Ema would becomeprima donna assolutaat the Royal Opera HouseCovent Gardenin London. She would perform at theNárodní Divadlo(National Theatre) in Prague for the first time in 1901, after her great successes in Wilhelminian Germany.
She was particularly indebted to her teacher Marie Loewe, whose stage name was Destinn, a short form of the English destiny, fate. The fact that Ema adopted Destinn as her stage name[23]proves her life-long friendship with Marie and Thomas Loewe. When Ema learnt about Thomas Loewe’s death in June 1921, she immediatelysent Marie a large sum to see her over the first difficult months,[24]although she was in dire financial straits herself. Two of Ema’s characteristic qualities were generosity and loyalty. Whenever a friend in need asked her for help, she did not think twice.
Ema’s lifestyle conformed to the cliché of the archetypalartist: emotional, impulsive, enthusiastic, caring only for art, completely impractical and absolutely indifferent to money. Money was to her but a means of gaining freedom, of being herself, of enjoying life without any further thought.
At the peak of her career, from 1908 to 1916, Ema was unmarried; she didn’t have childrenand earned fantastic fees, but this did not mean that she was a suitable candidate for marriage. She was rich, but no respectable gentleman would have thought of marrying her. Only her colleagues and friends from the theatre, fellow artistes, were realistic and suitable candidates for marriage. In the late 19thcentury, European society still regardedartists,and female artists in particular, as fair game. Certainly, Ema was admired and praised. European aristocrats would have love affairs with actresses and singers, but they were not suitable partners for marriage. The democratic Americans had no home-grown aristocracyand thus were more liberal in this regard, but there is no record of a marriage proposal being made to Ema by an American citizen.
Ema spent her money as she liked, she knew that she would never receive a marriageproposal from an aristocrat – but then it seems she was not bothered. When she was earning most, at the peak of her career, she spent it on clothes, antique furniture and her collection ofNapoleonmemorabilia. She had admired Napoleon since her childhood, soshe told the youngpianist Arthur Rubinstein(1887–1982), who would become a close friend[25]and later a Chopin virtuoso. Her wealth allowed her to entertain friends at her castle,Stráž, in southern Bohemia. Ema was reckless with money; she could not be bothered to exercise financial discipline and was incapable of long-term financial planning. An example: in 1912, her household spending amounted to USD 2311 in January and USD 3278 in February.[26]
In 1908, Emperor Wilhelm II honoured her with the prestigious accolade ofKammersängerinof Prussia, an honorary title for female singers.[27]Ema’s success catapulted her to international stardom. Her favourite place was the Royal Opera House Covent Gardenin London, where she sang 17 roles and performed from 1904 to 1914. In the winter season of 1908, she gave her stage debut at the Metropolitan Operain New York, singing Verdi’sAida with Enrico Caruso(1873–1921), directed byArturo Toscanini(1867–1957). She would perform at the Met for eight years in 21 roles, and the New York public adored her:
“Her popularity with the public, favourable reviews and fantastic emoluments showed her at the height of her career. Thanks to her exceptional voice, her dramatic acting and the care she took to ‘live’ every role, her performances were incomparable. Not only did she put her whole soul into every part, but she drew the rest of the cast with her. … In New York, Emmy Destinn enjoyed a phenomenal success … but at the cost of endless rehearsals, exhaustingperformances, concerts, guest appearances in other American cities (Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere), recording sessions, performances for Czech-American patriotic societies as well as for American millionaires…”[28]
One event in Ema’s young life before she conquered the world is shrouded in mystery: on 4 April 1899, she attempted suicidein her Prague apartment and returned to Berlin that same night.[29]In 1897, her first love with Jindřích Vodílek had ended. This is not that tragic, rather the norm for us in the 21stcentury. Many first loves do not have a happy end; thank God, one might add with hindsight.
But in the last decades of the 19thcentury, courtship that did not end in marriageand childrenwas still a stigma, for the woman, of course. To have several relationships before onetiesthe knot was unheard of back then; the norm was a decent and parent-approved courtship, engagement and then marriage and children. Catholic Austrian society did not accept divorce. A marriage was forever; all the more important, therefore, to find the perfect match for daughters.
Ema kept her private life to herself, and little is known about her relationships. Her long-term companion Marie Martínková, who acted as hergarderobière, her wardrobe lady who took care of her stage costumes, was her closest friend and confidante. Marie was in her service from 1909 to 1922.[30]For 13 years, Ema and Marie lived together: for the winter season at the Met they would travelto New York and return to Europe in the spring, where Ema performed mainly at Covent Gardenin London and in Paris. In 1923, a couple of months after Marie had left Stráž, Ema married the much younger airforce officer Josef Halsbach – her only marriageproved a perfect mismatch.
The British pianistHarold Samuel(1879–1937), a specialist in Bach, had made a formal proposal of marriageto Ema in 1917;[31]his intention was to give her shelter, to protect her from the Austrian authorities. From 1916 until the end of the war, she was confined at Strážfor her activities on behalf of themaffie,the underground Bohemian resistance that was in steady contact with Masaryk’s exile lobby. Her contract with the Met was cancelled and her American income with it.
With the rational decision to accept Samuel’s proposal and move to Great Britain, Ema could have made her life a lot easier; as Mrs Samuel, she would have received British citizenship. She could have spent the war in London and actively supported the Allies’ cause with performances at Covent Gardenand concert tours in Great Britain and America. She could have used her celebrity status to support the Czechoslovakexileodbojand the Czech and Slovak patriotic associations in America; American and British opera fans were besotted with her.
Back in the spring of 1911, Ema had sung Verdi’s Aida at the coronation of King George V (1865–1936). Queen Mary (1867–1953) had thanked her for her splendid performance:
“Certainly, I am queen, but only one of many. You, my dear, are the queen of music in the entire world.”[32]
After the war, Ema could have returned to Strážwith Samueland used her personal network, acquired inGreat Britainand theUSA, to promote Masaryk’s Czechoslovakia. She could have had an important say in rebuilding institutions, in particular, promoting education in the country’s music academies. She might even have been given a position at the Ministry of Education or a professorship at the Prague Conservatory. As a Czech patriot, having worked abroad for independence like Masaryk,Beneš, Štefánik and thelegia, she could have used her celebrity status to strengthen Czechoslovakia’s position in international relations. As a symbol of Czech music and the embodiment of the Republic’s democratic values, she would have been an excellent cultural ambassadress.
Yet, Ema was an impulsive artist; she was no rational actor and made her decisions from the heart. WWI and her activities for themaffieprompted her house arrest at Stráž; her irrational refusal to marry Samuel would cause the end of her career.
Halsbach wormed his way into her affections in 1922, approaching her with an offer to take aerial pictures of her castle; the 44-year-old diva fell for his smooth talk and good looks.[33]The marriage
