Fanny von Arnstein: Daughter of the Enlightenment
Fanny von Arnstein: Daughter of the Enlightenment
By Hilde Spiel
Translated by Christine Shuttleworth
“In capturing the fascination of Fanny von Arnstein, Hilde Spiel provides both a finely drawn portrait of a defining figure of her era and also of the times themselves. The appearance of this excellent English translation could not be more appropriate.”—John Kornblum, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany and to the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
“ ‘The congress danced’ became an enduring comment on the great victors’ conference that apportioned spoils of Napoleon’s defeat at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Some of the most piquant political and cultural cotillions of that fateful gala took place in the salon of Fanny von Arnstein, the Jewish baroness whose life and times Hilde Spiel has conjured brilliantly in this book.”—Frederic Morton, author of A Nervous Splendor, Thunder at Twilight and The Rothschilds
“Vienna is the true subject of this fascinating biography…Fanny von Arnstein is a tract for our times.”—The Spectator
Berlin-born Fanny von Arnstein married a financier to the Austro-Hungarian imperial court, and in 1798 her husband became the first unconverted Jew in Austria to be granted the title of baron. Soon Fanny hosted an ever more splendid salon which attracted the leading figures of her day, including Madame de Staël and Arthur Schopenhauer. Hilde Spiel's biography provides a vivid portrait of a brave and passionate woman, illuminating a central era in European cultural and social history.
Paperback
371 pages
New Vessel Press, 2013
6.1 x 0.9 x 9 inches
ISBN 9781939931030
Biography, Austrian History