Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl, 1903-1971

Sibyl: architectural historian, critic, educator. Birthdate also cited as 1903. Died 1971. Laszlo: sculptor, designer, painter & photographer; Chicago, Illinois.

Sibyl was born Dorothea Maria Pauline Alice Sybille Pietzsche in Dresden, Germany. An actress in Berlin during her twenties, she used the stage name Sibyl Peech. Eventually she shifted to a career in the scenario office of the Tobis [Moving] Picture Syndicate where she met Moholy-Nagy in 1929. They married in 1932. Came to U.S. 1934. Laszlo taught at Walter Gropius's first Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, 1920's, and was one of the founders of the Institute of Design, Chicago, 1939.

From the description of Sibyl and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy papers, 1918-1971. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220170921

Biographical Chronology

• 1903: Sibyl Moholy-Nagy born Dorothea Maria Pauline Alice Sybille Pietzsche in Dresden, Germany. Birthdate also cited as 1905.
• 1920's: Marries, but soon separates from and then obtains a divorce from Carl Dreyfus.
• 1929: Meets Laszlo Moholy-Nagy while working in the scenario office of the Tobis [Moving] Picture Syndicate in Berlin.
• 1932: Marries Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.
• 1934: Emigrates to the United States.
• 1944: Her only published novel, Children's Children, appears.
• 1946: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy dies of leukemia.
• 1947: Assumes first full-time teaching position at the Institute of Design in Chicago.
• 1948: Teaches for a year at Bradley University in Peoria.
• 1949: Moves to California, where she teaches at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco and at the University of California at Berkeley.
• 1951: Returns back east to accept a position at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
• 1969: Retires as full professor from the Pratt Institute.
• 1971: Dies in New York Hospital (NYC) on January 8th, at age 67.

From the guide to the Sibyl Moholy-Nagy Collection, 1909-1970, (University of California, Santa Cruz. University Library. Special Collections and Archives)