Helene von Druskowitz
(1856 - 1918) Austria
Philosopher, literary theorist and writer
Aged only 16, Helene was the first woman to sit the high school examination as a day pupil of the Piaristengymnasium in Vienna. At the same time she graduated from her piano studies at the Conservatoire. She was seen as a child prodigy with a glittering future ahead of her.
Since in 1872 the University of Vienna still did not admit women, Helene's mother moved with her daughter to Zurich, where Helene, at the age 22, was the first Austrian woman to complete a doctorate. In the following years she lectured in Vienna, Munich and Zurich, and traveled extensively in North Africa, France, Italy and Spain.
Helene was a committed atheist and categorically rejected marriage. She defended herself andainst all the attempts to marry her off and proudly declared herself to be "abnormal".
In 1887 Helene began a relationship with the opera singer Teresa Malten. The two women lived together in Dresden. In 1891, at age 35, Helene was forcibly admitted to the Dresden psychiatric hospital for reasons which are now unknown. Shortly thereafter, she was moved to the Mauer-Oehling psychiatric hospital near Vienna. She was compulsorily detained for 27 years until her death. Helene carried on writing throughout her incarceration
Excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII, Routledge, London, 2001
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