- Elsa Bernstein
Else/Elsa Bernstein-Porges (born Else
Porges , pseudonym: Ernst Rosmer;October 28 ,1866 ,Wien -July 2 ,1949 ,Hamburg-Eimsbüttel ) was an Austrian-German writer anddramatist .She was a daughter of
Heinrich Porges , the wife ofMax Bernstein , and the friend ofRichard Wagner .Life
She was educated at
Munich ; and, for a short time, on the stage. Anaffliction of theeyes forced her to retire, and she thenceforth devoted herself todramatic literature . Shortly after her marriage in 1892 toMax Bernstein , she wrote her first play, "Wir Drei"," which created considerable discussion. It was really a dramatized version of the matrimonial andsexual views ofTaine and Zola. Her next plays fell rather flat: "Dämmerung," 1893; "Die Mutter Maria "," 1894; "Tedeum," 1896; "Themistokles," 1897; and "Daguy Peters "." But unbounded admiration was elicited by "DieKönigskinder "," 1895—a dramatic fairy-tale. Though its plot was simple, the beauty of the theme and its poetry were such as to class it withLudwig Fulda 's "Der Talisman "."Literary works
;Under the pseudonym "Ernst Rosmer":
* "Dämmerung" (Schauspiel, 1893)
* "Wir Drei" (Drama 1893)
* "Madonna" (Novellen 1894)
* "Königskinder " (Märchendrama 1895; 1895 vonEngelbert Humperdinck vertont)
* "Tedeum " (Komödie 1896)
* "Themistokles " (Tragödie 1897)
* "Mutter Maria. Totengedicht in fünf Wandlungen " (1900)
* "Merete " (1902)
* "Dagny (drama) " (Drama 1904)
* "Johannes Herkner " (Schauspiel 1904);As "Elsa Bernstein":
* "Nausikaa " (Tragödie 1906)
* "Maria Arndt " (Schauspiel 1908)
* "Achill " (Tragödie 1910)
* "Das Leben als Drama. Erinnerungen an Theresienstadt " (Tagebuch aus demKZ , posthum 1999)References
* Jürgen Joachimsthaler: Max Bernstein. Kritiker, Schriftsteller, Rechtsanwalt (1854-1925). Frankfurt/M. et al. 1995. Biography about her husband, containing a lot of biographical material about her as well.
* Ulrike Zophoniasson-Baierl: "Elsa Bernstein alias Ernst Rosmer". Bern et al. 1985.Bibliography of the Jewish Encyclopedia
* "
Das Jüngste Deutschland ", pp. 317-320;
*Kürschner , "Deutscher Litteratur-Kalender ", 1901, p. 91;
* "Lexikon Deutscher Frauen der Feder ", i. 61;
** ib. ii. 203.S:JewishEncyclopedia|article=Elsa Bernstein|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=903&letter=B|author=Isidore Singer &Edgar Mels
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