Kinkel, Johanna (1810–1858)
Kinkel, Johanna (1810–1858)
German choral conductor, pianist, composer, poet, and writer. Born Johanna Mockel in Bonn, Germany, on July 8, 1810; died in London, England, on November 15, 1858; daughter of Peter Joseph Mockel (a singing teacher at the Royal Bonn Gymnasium); married Johann Paul Matthieux (a bookseller), in 1832 (marriage annulled after a few days); married Gottfried Kinkel (a poet), in 1843; children: four.
Johanna Mockel was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1810, the daughter of a singing teacher at the Royal Bonn Gymnasium who was her first music instructor. She also met Felix Mendelssohn, the composer, in Frankfurt; he encouraged her to compose. Johanna married Gottfried Kinkel, a poet and revolutionary, in 1843. She became involved with chamber and vocal ensembles until the Revolution of 1848 and her husband's subsequent arrest for political activities. Condemned to death, he escaped from Spandau Prison and went to London. Johanna followed him there, and supported her four children and husband as a choir director and composer. In addition, Kinkel wrote essays on music, and her writings on Chopin are still considered particularly valuable. Johanna Kinkel's life ended in 1858, ten years after the revolution, when she committed suicide.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia