Von Richthofen, Else (1874–1973)

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Von Richthofen, Else (1874–1973)

German intellectual and social activist. Name variations: Else Jaffe. Born Elisabeth Helene Amalie Sophie Freiin von Richthofen, in the French city of Metz, in Lorraine, Oct 8, 1874; died Dec 22, 1973; eldest of 3 daughters of Friedrich von Richthofen (civil engineer) and Anna (Marquier) von Richthofen; sister of Frieda Lawrence (1879–1956) and Johanna "Nusch" von Richthofen; Heidelberg University, PhD, 1901; m. Edgar Jaffe (teacher of political economy), 1902 (died 1921); children: (with Edgar Jaffe) 3; (with psychologist Otto Gross) 1 son (b. 1907).

Eldest and brainiest of the 3 von Richthofen sisters, was the 1st woman appointed by the state to monitor the rights of women factory workers; won respect and admiration of country's feminists and, as a scholar, was a respected member of the intellectual community; went to live with sociologist Alfred Weber (1921), becoming his reader, translator, and traveling companion until his death (1958); occasionally turns up in a D. H. Lawrence story: as Mary Lindley, for example, in "Daughters of the Vicar," which also explores her marriage to Jaffe.

See also Martin Green, The von Richthofen Sisters: The Triumphant and the Tragic Modes of Love (Basic, 1974); and Women in World History.

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Von Richthofen, Else (1874–1973)

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