Mendelssohn, Eleonora von
Name Entries
person
Mendelssohn, Eleonora von
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleonora von
Mendelssohn, Eleanora, 1900-1951.
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleanora, 1900-1951.
Mendelssohn, Eleanora.
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleanora.
Mendelssohn, Eleonora, 1900-1951
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleonora, 1900-1951
Mendelssohn, Eleonora von 1900-1951
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleonora von 1900-1951
Fischer Mendelssohn, Eleonora 1900-1951
Name Components
Name :
Fischer Mendelssohn, Eleonora 1900-1951
Mendelssohn, Eleonora Gabriella Marie Josepha 1900-1951
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleonora Gabriella Marie Josepha 1900-1951
Mendelssohn, Eleonora Fischer- 1900-1951
Name Components
Name :
Mendelssohn, Eleonora Fischer- 1900-1951
Von Mendelssohn, Eleonora
Name Components
Name :
Von Mendelssohn, Eleonora
Genders
Female
Exist Dates
Biographical History
Eleanora Mendelssohn (1900-1951) was a German stage actress who emigrated to the United States at the time of Hitler's rise to power.
She was actively involved in aiding other emigres and had much contact with the German acting community in Hollywood and New York.
Eleanora Mendelssohn was born in Berlin, Germany on December 1, 1900. She was the daughter of Robert von Mendelssohn and Giulietta Gordigiani. Her father, an amateur cellist, was a descendant of Moses Mendelssohn, of whose line the famous composer, Felix Mendelssohn was a part. Robert and his brother Franz controlled the Mendelssohn Bank during the early decades of the 20th century.
Ms. Mendelssohn was named for the celebrated actress, Eleanora Duse, and like her namesake became an actress herself, despite her parents' objections. She joined the company of Max Reinhardt and made her stage debut in 1921 as Jessica in “The Merchant of Venice”. She was married three times - first, to Edwin Fischer, the Swiss pianist; second, to Jedre Jessinski, an Hungarian aristocrat; and last, to Martin Kosleck, a Hollywood actor and a fellow German emigre.
Eleanora Mendelssohn was the first of the Mendelssohn family to leave Germany when Hitler came to power. Moving to Austria, however, proved to be equally unwise since she was politically outspoken and belonged to a branch of the family that retained its Judaism the longest. In 1938 she left Austria and emigrated to the United States. Settling in New York with her brother, Francesco, Eleanora soon began aiding other refugees.
After perfecting her English, she appeared on the New York stage in a number of plays including: “Flight to the West”, “The Russian People”, “The Secret Room”, “Daughters of Atreus” and “The Madwoman of Chaillot”. Her one major Broadway success was her role in “Flight to the West” where she played a Jewish woman fleeing Germany. She counted among her friends an array of notables from the international artistic community. Among them were Alexander Woolcott, Arturo Toscanini, Noel Coward, Thornton Wilder and Helen Hayes.
Tragedy seemed a part of her life. The dissolution of her family fortune, her brother's frail mental health and her own endless search for fame were aspects of a life compounded by Hitler's rise to power and her displacement from her homeland. In 1951, again tragedy struck when her husband, Martin Kosleck, fell from their apartment window and was severely injured. A few weeks later, Ms. Mendelssohn was found dead in bed from an overdose of sleeping pills. She died January 24, 1951 in New York City.
eng
Latn
External Related CPF
https://viaf.org/viaf/30298888
https://viaf.org/viaf/88415577
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n2009033142
https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n2009033142
Other Entity IDs (Same As)
Sources
Loading ...
Resource Relations
Loading ...
Internal CPF Relations
Loading ...
Languages Used
fre
Zyyy
ger
Zyyy
eng
Zyyy
Subjects
Jews, German
Jewish actors
Jewish refugees
Jewish refugees
Jews in the motion picture industry
Nationalities
Activities
Occupations
Actors
Legal Statuses
Places
United States
AssociatedPlace
Convention Declarations
<conventionDeclaration><citation>VIAF</citation></conventionDeclaration>