Hedwig Jennie Fechheimer / Simon

Hedwig Jenny Fechheimer , born Hedwig Jenny Brühl , also known as Hedwig Simon ( June 1, 1871 in Berlin - August 31, 1942 ibid) was a German art historian and Egyptologist . She was an important representative of the Berlin school and is known for her research into the sculpture of ancient Egypt and its influence on modern art. As a Jew , she was persecuted by the National Socialists and committed suicide in 1942 to avoid being deported .

Hedwig Jenny Brühl was the daughter of Isidor and Bertha Brühl. She had an older sister who died as a child, as well as a younger sister and a younger brother. In 1877 the family moved to Leipzig . Hedwig trained as a teacher in Wroclaw from 1892 to 1893 and then returned to her family. After the father's death, the mother moved back to Berlin with the children in 1896.

In 1896, Hedwig Fechheimer enrolled as a guest student at the University of Berlin - the only way that women in Prussia could get academic education at this time. She studied art history and philosophy .

At the university, she met Sigfried Fechheimer. They married on November 17, 1903. Sigfried Fechheimer died of tuberculosis only two months later. On September 17, 1917, she married the doctor Dr. Richard Simon. Her second husband died a few years later, probably in 1920 or 1921. After that, Hedwig Fechheimer - like before her marriage - lived with her sister Margarete Brühl.

Through her acquaintance with Emilie and Ludwig Borchardt , Hedwig Fechheimer found access to Egyptology. She became friends with Carl Einstein and through him discovered her interest in contemporary French art. Within Egyptology, she took a critical stance on the traditional current of the subject. It can be attributed to the Berlin school .

Between 1913 and 1931, Hedwig Fechheimer published numerous essays on Egyptian art in the magazine Art and Artists . Her main work is the book The Sculpture of Egypt , published in 1914, in which she drew parallels between Egyptian art and Cubism . It sparked an extensive discussion in the professional world and was also noticed by a wider audience. A new edition had to be printed in the same year; In 1920 it appeared in its fourth, slightly expanded edition and was translated into French. Her second book, Small Sculpture of the Egyptians , was published in 1921.

From 1921 to 1933 Fechheimer was a member of the expert commission for the Egyptian department of the State Museums in Berlin . In this role, she campaigned for the return of the bust of Nefertiti to Egypt.

In 1941, Hedwig Fechheimer and her sister Margarete were forced to vacate their apartment at Helmstedter Strasse 10 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf . They found accommodation at Heilbronner Strasse 8, where they lived in a sublet room for about a year and a half. When her deportation was inevitable - Hedwig Fechheimer was 71 at the time - both sisters committed suicide. They are buried in the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weißensee .

In front of the house, stumbling blocks remember Hedwig Fechheimer (under the name Hedwig Simon) and her sister Margarete Brühl.

Hedwig Simon (born Brühl)

• German Minority Census, 1939
• Birth: June 1 1871 - Berlin, Germany
• Residence: May 1939 - Berlin, Wilmersdorf, Germany
• Death: Aug 31 1942

Hedwig Simon (born Brühl verw. Fechheimer)

• Germany, Jewish Victims of Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945
• Birth: June 1 1871 - Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• Residence: Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany
• Death: Aug 31 1942

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedwig_Fechheimer Hedwig Fechheimer

• Famous People Throughout History
• Description: Egyptologist. Became Embroiled In The Primitivism Controversy With Carl Einstein (q.v.) In 1915.
• Birth: June 1 1871 - Berlin, Margraviate of Brandenburg
• Death: Aug 31 1942 - Berlin, Margraviate of Brandenburg