Helene Schweitzer: A Life of Her Own

by Patti M. Marxsen

Overview

Helene Schweitzer’s dramatic life conceals deeper questions of how memory is influenced by gender assumptions and how biography is shaped by place and history. By proposing a counter-narrative to the traditional image of a frail woman who sacrificed her life to her husband’s genius, this well-researched collection of essays on a little-known figure invites a larger discussion about the meaning of a woman’s life "obscured" by a partner’s fame.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815610519
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	05/04/2015
Series:	Albert Schweitzer Library
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Patti M. Marxsen is a journalist, essayist, translator, and independent scholar. She is the translator of Albert Schweitzer's Lambarene: A Legacy of Humanity for Our World Today by Jo and Walter Munz.

Interviews

Currently there are no other biographies of Helene Schweitzer Bresslau written in English

Editorial Reviews

The eminent American Schweitzer scholar A.G. Rud praises her book as 'a great advance in Schweitzer scholarship', and so it is, drawing new fruits from a variety of international archives and creating a sensitive biographical narrative, suffused by a rigorous, undogmatic and compassionate judgement.

Contemporary Church History Quarterly

As Marxsen makes clear in this readable study, Helene was more than the traditional, sacrificial good wife to a great man. Rather on her own terms she was a forceful humanitarian who played a significant role in the development and continuation of the Schweitzer Hospital in Gabon, West Africa. Based on new primary sources this is the first English language study of a woman whose international life offers new insights into a forgotten woman and her times. Helene Schweitzer did indeed have a life of her own that is worth remembering.

author of Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography Jean H. Baker

In a new and thoughtful examination of the life of Helene Schweitzer, Patti Marxsen presents us with a picture of a resourceful, intelligent, independent-minded woman. Drawing on new primary material and recent publications, especially in German, she gives us an account of this remarkable woman, which is not compromised by being written in the shadow of her iconic husband. At once absorbing, moving and thought-provoking.

Dr. James Carleton Paget

Patti Marxsen's book will challenge Schweitzer scholars to further consider the role and importance of Hélène Schweitzer. . . . I urge anyone interested in the legacy of Albert Schweitzer and his remarkable wife to read this book.

A. G. Rud

A remarkable achievement, this compelling, meticulously researched biography restores Helene Schweitzer Bresslau to her proper stature in history as a modern professional woman of tremendous accomplishment, who, against the odds, fashioned an independent life for herself.

author of Diving for Pearls: A Thinking Journe Kathleen B. Jones

The eminent American Schweitzer scholar A.G. Rud praises her book as 'a great advance in Schweitzer scholarship', and so it is, drawing new fruits from a variety of international archives and creating a sensitive biographical narrative, suffused by a rigorous, undogmatic and compassionate judgement.

CONTEMPORARY CHURCH HISTORY QUARTERLY - Andrew Chandler

Patti Marxsen's biography of Helen Schweitzer brings to life the story of an accomplished woman who has for too long has been placed in the shadow of her husband, Albert Schweitzer. As Marxsen makes clear in this readable study, Helene was more than the traditional, sacrificial good wife to a great man. Rather on her own terms she was a forceful humanitarian who played a significant role in the development and continuation of the Schweitzer Hospital in Gabon, West Africa. Based on new primary sources this is the first English language study of a woman whose international life offers new insights into a forgotten woman and her times. Helene Schweitzer did indeed have a life of her own that is worth remembering.

Jean H. Baker

A remarkable achievement, this compelling, meticulously researched biography restores Helene Schweitzer Bresslau to her proper stature in history as a modern professional woman of tremendous accomplishment, who, against the odds, fashioned an independent life for herself. Marxsen's discovery of new sources, combined with her innovative use of existing scholarship, allows her to bring the life of this extraordinary risk-taking woman out of relative obscurity. Through Marxsen's graceful, admiring prose Helene Schweitzer finally has "a life of her own".

Kathleen B Jones