1939
20 Maresfield Gardens
London N.
20 Maresfield Gardens
London N.
Weininger - 1946 - Mind and Death of a Genius
The date of his circumcision, as well as the name of
the surgeon who performed it and his Jewish descent, can be shown.
Whether Otto attended any Jewish school or as a boy showed
any interest in the Jewish religion we are not able to say on the
basis of our registries.
In any case, he left the Jewish Congregation on May 28, 1902.
We hope that these details have served you satisfactorily.
Very faithfully yours,
Matrtkelamt der Israelitischen
kultusgemeinde in wien
Der Matrikenfuhrer
LETTER II
Vienna, March 5, 1938
Dear Doctor:
My reply to your friendly letter must, I regret to say, disappoint
you, because I am not able to say more about Weininger than I
have said in my little book about him. . . .
You say that in Scandinavia almost nothing is known about
Weininger. However, shortly after the German edition of Sex and
Character, a Danish edition appeared, of which you perhaps know.
I believe that Weininger was not personally known to Professor
Sigmund Freud, but he was interested in his theory of hysteria and
also perhaps learned much from him.
Professor Avenarius--you mean Richard Avenarius, the author of
Kritik der reinen Erfahrung--was not known to Otto Weininger;
at least he was not in the beginning influenced by Avenarius. In the
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? 202
Appendix
latter part of his work he disregarded positivistic philosophy and
turned to Plato and the philosophy of the German idealists, par-
ticularly Schilling.
These fews things will probably not help you very much, but I
have answered your questions as well as I could.
Very faithfully yours,
Emil Lucka
LETTER III
Budapest, March 9, 1938
Dear Doctor:
I am glad to know you through your letters. In the last years my
brother lived I was with him, and I can answer your questions. I am
glad that I thereby can be of service to you.
Otto did not personally know Professor Freud and to the best of
my knowledge never dealt with his works.
Otto's personal experiences with women did not influence him.
Please find an enclosed study by one of my young friends, Doctor
Paul Biro, who at twenty dealt very much with philosophy. . . .
Perhaps you can find something in this book which is unknown
to you and from which you may perhaps benefit.
I will photograph two poems written by Otto when he was a
student, which he gave me, and I will send them to you in a few
days.
You have not annoyed me at all. If you should come to visit here
sometime, I would like to see you. . . .
With kindest regards,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
LETTER IV
3-14-38
Vienna IX--19 Berggasse
Dear Doctor:
My relations to Otto Weininger were very complicated. It is not
possible to describe them in a short letter. A long thesis would be
necessary. I was the first one to read through his manuscript--and
the first to give an unfavorable opinion of it. His principal idea he
also got through me indirectly, and in a quite inaccurate way.
Yours sincerely,
Sigmund Freud
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? Appendix 203
LETTER V
Vienna
Grinzinger Allee
March 26, 1938
Dear Doctor:
I was a close friend of Otto Weininger, and his personality is still
of continuing importance to me. . . .
The power of his influence was in the human impulse which ac-
companied him and which expressed itself in all his shortcomings
and all his immaturity (he was just twenty! ). He was concerned
with humanity--all humanity, not just a part of it. He conceived
the idea that there is a living unity of the individual and the uni-
verse; his basic attitude was beyond sex. As a measure of pure hu-
manity, he acknowledged the superiority, the triumph of the spirit-
ual character over sex, a mastering of every drive--or, as it should be
called, what in human beings is more than man or woman. . . .
The dimensions of his thinking and creation were in accord with
his personality. His life was practically a restless process of contin-
uation which gave to every one of his statements a touch of religious
initiation, of clear apocalyptic growth.
Weininger's works are known to you. His book Taschenbuch
appeared at the end of the war. This book (with some letters) was
for a long time in Dr. Arthur Gerber's possession, and he gave me
this book in 1919. The book was deciphered by our mutual efforts.
It mainly contained notes of personal and weltanschavlicher nature,
which throw light chiefly upon his last days.
Allow me to mention that I have already published a book, Die
Erweckung (Berlin, Ernst Hofmann), in which I wrote a quite
extensive chapter about my experiences with Otto Weininger. I
regret to say that I do not have a copy. I would, of course, have sent
it to you if I had.
I greet you with sincerity, and I would be happy to meet you in
person.
Sincerely yours,
OSKAR EWALD
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? 204 Appendix
LETTER VI
Budapest
August 27, 1938
Dear Dr. Abrahamsen:
I beg your forgiveness for not having answered sooner--
(1) The next time I will send you a good photograph of Otto.
(2) 1 have a photograph which has never before been published.
(3) I had the good fortune to live with my brother. I was five
years younger than he.
(4) Otto's musical disposition: We had a glorious father. When
Otto was six yean old my father took him to hear FTeischutz, and
when he was eight my father took him to hear Meistersinger.
(5) Otto was talented in philology and my father wanted him to
go into the Consular Academy. My mother was a fine, good, simple
woman, housewife and mother. My father was austere in his dis-
cipline, divine in his goodness . . . personality. He was rigid in his
criticism. His marriage to my mother was not very successful; he
always meant to do his best, as she did also, but he made enormous
demands upon his wife and children.
(6) We are not descendants of Cellini. My father was Jewish, as
was my mother. My father was highly anti-Semitic, but he thought
as a Jew and was angry when Otto wrote against Judaism.
Do you know what was written on Otto's tomb? If not, I will
tell you. I do not believe that Freud read Otto's manuscript. To my
knowledge Otto did not know him personally.
Cordially yours,
Rosa Weininger
<<
LETTER VII
Florianigasse 13
Vienna
September 10, 1938
Dear Doctor Abrahamsen:
My remark about Benevenuto Cellini's family was not meant in
the sense that there was a real family relationship between Leopold
Weininger and Cellini--there can, of course, be no question of that.
I meant that the goldsmith's art, which is closely connected with
the name of Cellini, slowly vanished and that Leopold Weininger
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? Appendix 205
was one of the last--in Austria perhaps the last--masters of this
noble art.
Of course, I am very interested in seeing the comparison of these
two. Your work is important to me, and even though I am not
able to understand it very well, I would be grateful if you would
send me a copy of your book. You can, of course, use my letters as
you wish.
Hearty greetings. I would be happy to make your personal ac-
quaintance. In appreciation and with cordial sympathy,
Yours,
Emil Lucka
LETTER VIII
December 30, 1938
Vienna VIII, 13 Florianigasse
Dear Doctor Abrahamsen:
With regard to Otto Weininger, he was not epileptic or insane
or schizophrenic. His many friends would have noticed it. Professor
Hermann Swoboda at the University of Vienna, who was a friend
of his, was of the opinion that Otto Weininger had signs of hysteria.
I cannot judge of that, but I have no doubt that he was mentally
normal. I knew his father quite well. He was a kind man and a very
gifted artist (or, as he called himself, a craftsman) who created
works in enamel, metal, glass, bronze, etc. This very last art, which
was much practiced during the time of the Renaissance, appears to
have died with him. He was famous in all Europe, and his works
were very highly praised. I knew very little of Otto Weininger's
mother; she was quite normal, as well as her . . . one brother and
two sisters, who in all probability are still living. I have, however,
no connection with them. I know nothing of a mental disease in
the family.
Perhaps you would be interested in knowing that Otto Weininger
had a great liking for Norway and its authors, particularly Ibsen
and Hamsun, and that he visited that country. He considered Ibsen
as the greatest author of all time, but that was not my opinion.
Perhaps this information can help a little. In the meantime I
greet you sincerely, and am
Very sincerely yours,
Emil Lucka
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? 206 Appendix
LETTER IX !
Budapest
January, 1939
Dear Doctor:
About all: In our family there was never any insanity or an in-
sane man. My brother Otto was never an epileptic. Clear-seeing
people are many times considered as mentally diseased. Otto was
always healthy, and I lived during my youth with him. In the last
part of his life, however, his body was weakened by the many nights
when he worked by candlelight. His nervous system suffered, as you
can see in his writings (U. L. D. ).
However, on the surface nothing untoward could be noticed.
There was a great sensibility--he was particularly sensitive to loud
and high-pitched voices, but never could a mental defect be de-
tected in his behavior.
I am glad to know that you are in the North.
Cordially yours,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
LETTER X
Budapest
4-26-39
Dear Doctor: <
There was no insanity in our family. My father was of strong
mentality. He had only one brother, who was handsome, charming,
frivolous. He died quite young. My father also had four sisters, but
they were unimportant.
My brother, Richard, is fifty-two years old. He is very handsome
and very gifted, and he is wealthy. He is an Epicurean with a femi-
nine disposition, vain, very hard, and a lady's man. He lives in
America. It is a principle with him not to see his family. When he
was young he caused many difficulties for my father. He is the
sort of man who will always influence everybody. He has a great
sense of beauty. He would walk over your dead body, but he may
also give shelter to a beggar when he is in a good mood and when
he is admired. He definitely is not an ordinary man. The exact op
posite to Otto, but not a happy man. An athlete, polo player, aviator,
etc.
With thanks and love,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
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? Appendix 207
LETTER XI
Budapest
5-10-39
Dear Doctor:
No, Richard, my brother, never committed any criminal act, but
he was unscrupulous and avaricious. He was married twice, to very
wealthy women. He would walk over your dead body if it were to
his advantage. He will show goodness when least expected. He is
hungry for sensation, audience, applause. . . .
Hearty regards,
Rosa Weininger
LETTER XII
Budapest
May 15, 1939
Dear Doctor:
My father looked like Nietzsche.
On my brother's tomb my father placed this inscription: "This
stone marks the resting place of a young man whose spirit found
no peace in this world. When he had delivered the message of his
soul, he could no longer remain among the living. He betook him-
self to the place of death of one of the greatest of all men, the
Schwarzspanierhaus in Vienna, and there destroyed his mortal
body. "
Otto was five feet and eight inches in height. I do not have the
first edition of Vber die letzten Dinge, but I will try to find it. I
have only the second and sixth editions.
Rosa Weininger
LETTER XIII
11. 6.
1939
20 Maresfield Gardens
London N. W. 3
Tel: Hampstead 2002
Dear Colleague:
My delayed answer is due to a week-long illness which has pre-
vented me from writing. I shall gladly answer your questions. Yes,
I am the person who gave Probst this description of Weininger's
personality. Weininger was never my patient, but one of his friends
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? 208 Appendix
was. Through this means Weininger became acquainted with the
views on bisexuality which I had already applied in my analysis,
prompted by Fliess. He constructed his book about this idea. I do
not know the difference between . . . [undecipherable] and his
thesis. In the manuscript Otto Weininger gave me to read there
were no depreciatory words about the Jews and much less criticism
of women. He had also to a large extent given consideration to my
views on hysteria.
I am,
Sincerely yours,
Freud
LETTER XIV
Budapest
6-27-39
Dear Doctor:
I have two letters to thank you for. In answer I wish to inform
you as follows:
(1) Otto showed an interest in social problems, but no more
than other young men. He was a member of the Society for Social
Science.
(2) Our name always was Weininger, and we always were Jews.
(3) My grandparents were from Vienna, as were their parents
also.
(4) My mother was a beautiful and quiet wife. She had seven
children, of whom three died. She was only a housewife and mother
and had a gift for languages. She was overshadowed by the stronger
personality of her husband.
(5) My father was a craftsman in gold, silver, and porcelain. He
created several artistic pieces which have been acquired by Ameri-
cans. He was a great linguist and musician. He was strong in mind
and feeling, in expressions of divine goodness and unflinching sever-
ity, and he was feared by us all.
(6) As a father peerless, never to be equaled, he cared with the
greatest devotion for the lives and souls of his children. Through
him we became familiar with the most sublime beauty in the world
of art. He knew no moderation in his severity and criticism. He
was loved and feared by us all. . . . If we ever told a lie, he would
punish us at once. His demands upon us were enormous; if we did
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? LETTER WRITTEN BY FREUD, JUNE 11, 1939
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? 210
Appendix
not live up to them, he was mortally wounded. My father never had
an education. At the age of twenty-two he was a correspondent in
foreign languages in the banking house of Elias. Upon his marriage
at this time, he started his handicraft. Museums in London, Paris,
and Vienna exhibited a number of his creations. My father was
anti-Semitic although he thought as a Jew.
I am still searching for the first edition of Uber die letzten Dinge.
Cordially yours,
Rosa Weininger
LETTER XV
6-24-39
Dear Doctor:
The letter which was returned to you unopened came to me
today. The address was illegible. I owe you an answer, as I now
see I had forgotten to answer you previously.
(1) The frivolity of my paternal uncle consisted in deserting his
wife and two small children without any further care of the chil-
dren. My father never forgave him for this, and when my uncle
was lying on his deathbed at the age of forty, my father refused
his request to come and see him. But my father raised my uncle's
children and made them two good men, who up to this time have
lived in Vienna but now have fled to America.
(2) My uncle deserted his family for another woman who lived
in common-law relation with him. I did not know of any other
frivolity.
(3) No, Otto was not happy. A peculiar fellow? No, I do not
believe so. But he was a very hard worker. During nights, many
nights, most nights, he worked by the light of a small candle, and
beside him was a glass of milk which in the evening I brought to
his bare room. Certainly his mind was overworked, his body tired;
but remember, he was only twenty-two when he created his work.
Yours,
Rosa Boschan Weiningeb
LETTER XVI
6-29-39
Dear Doctor:
My paternal uncle was the youngest of five children. He died at
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? Appendix 211
the age of forty. He was a businessman, arid he was charming and
handsome.
There were no conflicts in my uncle's house. He deserted his wife
and children suddenly, without seeing them again.
My maternal aunts were orderly persons who died at an early
age. A maternal uncle had a miserable existence. I myself knew
only one aunt, who was a singer. About the one brother, I hear
that he was not honest.
I had thousands of letters from my father, who wrote me every
day, often three times a day.
Many thanks,
Rosa B. Weintnger
LETTER XVII
Zermatt
Dear Doctor:
(1) Otto was the second child. The first was Helene and she
died at the age of three of diphtheria. The second boy was Franz,
and he died at the age of fifteen as the result of an appendicitis
attack.
(2) My paternal uncle was thirty years old when he deserted his
wife. >
(3) His name was Friedrich.
(4) He died of pneumonia.
(5) Mathilde and Karoline are both my sisters. Karoline is the
youngest. She is forty years old and the most talented of us girls,
particularly philologically. I am now staying with her.
(6) The creations of which Otto spoke on the postcard sent to
me were pieces of poetry which I had written as a girl and which
he published in a Vienna periodical.
(7) The photo of my mother I sent to you four weeks ago, but
it seems that it has been lost and I will send you another when I
return home.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weintnger
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? 212
Appendix
LETTER XVIII
Dear Doctor:
Otto moved from home in 1901. 1 myself rented a room for him.
He changed rooms often. The reason for his moving was that there
were many children at home. Otto did not get the quiet he liked,
and his irregular life--the nights during which he worked--an-
noyed my father, and he advised Otto to find a room for himself.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weininger
LETTER XIX
Vienna
7-21-39
Dear Doctor:
Miss Meyer was a quite indifferent person, and Otto did not
know her. She was only an acquaintance of mine. She wanted to
know Otto.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weininger
LETTER XX
Budapest
7-27-39
Dear Doctor:
Miss Meyer asked me often to introduce her to Otto, but the
matter was not of much importance. At last she spent one hour
with him, and she wrote me, "I have been with Jesus Christ. " (I
still have the postcard. )
I do not know where this Miss Meyer is now.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weininger
<
LETTER XXI
Rena, Norway
7-29-39
Dear Doctor:
Knut Hamsun asked to be excused for his delay in replying to
your letter. If he had received a letter or greeting from Weininger,
Hamsun would have remembered it; but it did not happen. Hamsun
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? Appendix 213
has only--more than once--read his work, Sex and Character, and
each time he became annoyed at|Gjellerup's childish and superior
attitude.
Respectfully yours,
Kntjt Hamsun
[per] MH
LETTER XXII
Nerholz
8-11-39
Doctor David Abrahamsen:\
Hamsun regrets he has no remembrance of Weininger's visiting
him at this time.
Respectfully yours,
Maria Hamsun
LETTER XXIII
Budapest, January 24, 1940
My very dear Doctor:
. . . I sent you an enlargement of a portrait of my mother; it is,
regrettably, the only one I have. This picture shows my mother at
the time just after she had given birth to Otto. . . .
My mother was slim, delicate, small, a warm human being, a
thinking individual, a beautiful woman with beautiful hair--dark
hair, which even at her death was not gray. She was not egocentric;
she was a good mother, a good woman.
But in spite of all this the married life of my parents was not
peaceful. That was due to my father's strong personality, his sharp
criticism, and his great demands upon his family. We children let
Mother spoil us, we confided in her, but to us Father was the su-
preme judge.
Today, as a mature woman, I judge my parents' life in quite a
different light. I think that because of her many children, because
of her wonderful but difficult husband, my mother had a hard task
which she could manage only with the greatest mental and physical
difficulty. She was ill and suffered for years from bronchio-catarrh.
I am certain of one thing: with an average, ordinary husband, my
mother would undoubtedly have been a happy wife.
My father had, for Puritanical reasons, never deceived my mother;
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? 214 Appendix
Father and Mother lived a very erotic life. He loved her dearly as
a woman and she loved him, only him. But there were storms in
their life which darkened our youth.
Yours,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
LETTER XXIV
Bayreuth
August 20, 1902
Dear Rosa:
In the excitement of hearing The Flying Dutchman I could have
kissed both you and Richard had you been here. . . . Of course,
I have heard the Flying Dutchman played many times, but I have
never before experienced the toneful effects I heard today. It was
quite indescribable. I felt quite drunk when I left the Playhouse
(Festspielhaus), and only the worldly glitter of the dressed-up crowd
leaving the theater made me unfortunately, painfully sober. When
The Dutchman affects me in this way, what would I not feel listen-
ing to Parsifal, the playing of which I heard on the train (What a
prosaic place! ) without any prospect of ever reaching a complete
understanding of this wonderful masterpiece. . . . To me Richard
Wagner will always be, above everyone else, the great tone poet!
How shall I enjoy Parsifal after hearing it only one time and with-
out any theoretical musical preparation? I would be very happy
if I could enjoy this as I did when I for the first time, thirty years
ago, heard Meistersinger, and twenty-seven years ago heard Tristan
in Munich.
I received your letter of yesterday, dear Rosa. No, I was" not
annoyed to hear that Otto had enjoyed Parsifal before I had. I
have from your earliest years educated you so that you should learn
only that which was beautiful and noble, and I acknowledge with
pleasure that Otto is an aesthetic human being. I heard very much
about his travels, which have filled me with satisfaction. But he
should have obeyed me in all things! I did not demand from you
blind obedience; seeing the facts yourself, you should have listened
to me, Otto particularly. I am afraid for his material future.
I will keep this letter until this evening. It is three o'clock in the
afternoon, and at four o'clock Parsifal begins; it will close at a
quarter to eleven.
? ?
the surgeon who performed it and his Jewish descent, can be shown.
Whether Otto attended any Jewish school or as a boy showed
any interest in the Jewish religion we are not able to say on the
basis of our registries.
In any case, he left the Jewish Congregation on May 28, 1902.
We hope that these details have served you satisfactorily.
Very faithfully yours,
Matrtkelamt der Israelitischen
kultusgemeinde in wien
Der Matrikenfuhrer
LETTER II
Vienna, March 5, 1938
Dear Doctor:
My reply to your friendly letter must, I regret to say, disappoint
you, because I am not able to say more about Weininger than I
have said in my little book about him. . . .
You say that in Scandinavia almost nothing is known about
Weininger. However, shortly after the German edition of Sex and
Character, a Danish edition appeared, of which you perhaps know.
I believe that Weininger was not personally known to Professor
Sigmund Freud, but he was interested in his theory of hysteria and
also perhaps learned much from him.
Professor Avenarius--you mean Richard Avenarius, the author of
Kritik der reinen Erfahrung--was not known to Otto Weininger;
at least he was not in the beginning influenced by Avenarius. In the
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? 202
Appendix
latter part of his work he disregarded positivistic philosophy and
turned to Plato and the philosophy of the German idealists, par-
ticularly Schilling.
These fews things will probably not help you very much, but I
have answered your questions as well as I could.
Very faithfully yours,
Emil Lucka
LETTER III
Budapest, March 9, 1938
Dear Doctor:
I am glad to know you through your letters. In the last years my
brother lived I was with him, and I can answer your questions. I am
glad that I thereby can be of service to you.
Otto did not personally know Professor Freud and to the best of
my knowledge never dealt with his works.
Otto's personal experiences with women did not influence him.
Please find an enclosed study by one of my young friends, Doctor
Paul Biro, who at twenty dealt very much with philosophy. . . .
Perhaps you can find something in this book which is unknown
to you and from which you may perhaps benefit.
I will photograph two poems written by Otto when he was a
student, which he gave me, and I will send them to you in a few
days.
You have not annoyed me at all. If you should come to visit here
sometime, I would like to see you. . . .
With kindest regards,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
LETTER IV
3-14-38
Vienna IX--19 Berggasse
Dear Doctor:
My relations to Otto Weininger were very complicated. It is not
possible to describe them in a short letter. A long thesis would be
necessary. I was the first one to read through his manuscript--and
the first to give an unfavorable opinion of it. His principal idea he
also got through me indirectly, and in a quite inaccurate way.
Yours sincerely,
Sigmund Freud
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? Appendix 203
LETTER V
Vienna
Grinzinger Allee
March 26, 1938
Dear Doctor:
I was a close friend of Otto Weininger, and his personality is still
of continuing importance to me. . . .
The power of his influence was in the human impulse which ac-
companied him and which expressed itself in all his shortcomings
and all his immaturity (he was just twenty! ). He was concerned
with humanity--all humanity, not just a part of it. He conceived
the idea that there is a living unity of the individual and the uni-
verse; his basic attitude was beyond sex. As a measure of pure hu-
manity, he acknowledged the superiority, the triumph of the spirit-
ual character over sex, a mastering of every drive--or, as it should be
called, what in human beings is more than man or woman. . . .
The dimensions of his thinking and creation were in accord with
his personality. His life was practically a restless process of contin-
uation which gave to every one of his statements a touch of religious
initiation, of clear apocalyptic growth.
Weininger's works are known to you. His book Taschenbuch
appeared at the end of the war. This book (with some letters) was
for a long time in Dr. Arthur Gerber's possession, and he gave me
this book in 1919. The book was deciphered by our mutual efforts.
It mainly contained notes of personal and weltanschavlicher nature,
which throw light chiefly upon his last days.
Allow me to mention that I have already published a book, Die
Erweckung (Berlin, Ernst Hofmann), in which I wrote a quite
extensive chapter about my experiences with Otto Weininger. I
regret to say that I do not have a copy. I would, of course, have sent
it to you if I had.
I greet you with sincerity, and I would be happy to meet you in
person.
Sincerely yours,
OSKAR EWALD
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? 204 Appendix
LETTER VI
Budapest
August 27, 1938
Dear Dr. Abrahamsen:
I beg your forgiveness for not having answered sooner--
(1) The next time I will send you a good photograph of Otto.
(2) 1 have a photograph which has never before been published.
(3) I had the good fortune to live with my brother. I was five
years younger than he.
(4) Otto's musical disposition: We had a glorious father. When
Otto was six yean old my father took him to hear FTeischutz, and
when he was eight my father took him to hear Meistersinger.
(5) Otto was talented in philology and my father wanted him to
go into the Consular Academy. My mother was a fine, good, simple
woman, housewife and mother. My father was austere in his dis-
cipline, divine in his goodness . . . personality. He was rigid in his
criticism. His marriage to my mother was not very successful; he
always meant to do his best, as she did also, but he made enormous
demands upon his wife and children.
(6) We are not descendants of Cellini. My father was Jewish, as
was my mother. My father was highly anti-Semitic, but he thought
as a Jew and was angry when Otto wrote against Judaism.
Do you know what was written on Otto's tomb? If not, I will
tell you. I do not believe that Freud read Otto's manuscript. To my
knowledge Otto did not know him personally.
Cordially yours,
Rosa Weininger
<<
LETTER VII
Florianigasse 13
Vienna
September 10, 1938
Dear Doctor Abrahamsen:
My remark about Benevenuto Cellini's family was not meant in
the sense that there was a real family relationship between Leopold
Weininger and Cellini--there can, of course, be no question of that.
I meant that the goldsmith's art, which is closely connected with
the name of Cellini, slowly vanished and that Leopold Weininger
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? Appendix 205
was one of the last--in Austria perhaps the last--masters of this
noble art.
Of course, I am very interested in seeing the comparison of these
two. Your work is important to me, and even though I am not
able to understand it very well, I would be grateful if you would
send me a copy of your book. You can, of course, use my letters as
you wish.
Hearty greetings. I would be happy to make your personal ac-
quaintance. In appreciation and with cordial sympathy,
Yours,
Emil Lucka
LETTER VIII
December 30, 1938
Vienna VIII, 13 Florianigasse
Dear Doctor Abrahamsen:
With regard to Otto Weininger, he was not epileptic or insane
or schizophrenic. His many friends would have noticed it. Professor
Hermann Swoboda at the University of Vienna, who was a friend
of his, was of the opinion that Otto Weininger had signs of hysteria.
I cannot judge of that, but I have no doubt that he was mentally
normal. I knew his father quite well. He was a kind man and a very
gifted artist (or, as he called himself, a craftsman) who created
works in enamel, metal, glass, bronze, etc. This very last art, which
was much practiced during the time of the Renaissance, appears to
have died with him. He was famous in all Europe, and his works
were very highly praised. I knew very little of Otto Weininger's
mother; she was quite normal, as well as her . . . one brother and
two sisters, who in all probability are still living. I have, however,
no connection with them. I know nothing of a mental disease in
the family.
Perhaps you would be interested in knowing that Otto Weininger
had a great liking for Norway and its authors, particularly Ibsen
and Hamsun, and that he visited that country. He considered Ibsen
as the greatest author of all time, but that was not my opinion.
Perhaps this information can help a little. In the meantime I
greet you sincerely, and am
Very sincerely yours,
Emil Lucka
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? 206 Appendix
LETTER IX !
Budapest
January, 1939
Dear Doctor:
About all: In our family there was never any insanity or an in-
sane man. My brother Otto was never an epileptic. Clear-seeing
people are many times considered as mentally diseased. Otto was
always healthy, and I lived during my youth with him. In the last
part of his life, however, his body was weakened by the many nights
when he worked by candlelight. His nervous system suffered, as you
can see in his writings (U. L. D. ).
However, on the surface nothing untoward could be noticed.
There was a great sensibility--he was particularly sensitive to loud
and high-pitched voices, but never could a mental defect be de-
tected in his behavior.
I am glad to know that you are in the North.
Cordially yours,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
LETTER X
Budapest
4-26-39
Dear Doctor: <
There was no insanity in our family. My father was of strong
mentality. He had only one brother, who was handsome, charming,
frivolous. He died quite young. My father also had four sisters, but
they were unimportant.
My brother, Richard, is fifty-two years old. He is very handsome
and very gifted, and he is wealthy. He is an Epicurean with a femi-
nine disposition, vain, very hard, and a lady's man. He lives in
America. It is a principle with him not to see his family. When he
was young he caused many difficulties for my father. He is the
sort of man who will always influence everybody. He has a great
sense of beauty. He would walk over your dead body, but he may
also give shelter to a beggar when he is in a good mood and when
he is admired. He definitely is not an ordinary man. The exact op
posite to Otto, but not a happy man. An athlete, polo player, aviator,
etc.
With thanks and love,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
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? Appendix 207
LETTER XI
Budapest
5-10-39
Dear Doctor:
No, Richard, my brother, never committed any criminal act, but
he was unscrupulous and avaricious. He was married twice, to very
wealthy women. He would walk over your dead body if it were to
his advantage. He will show goodness when least expected. He is
hungry for sensation, audience, applause. . . .
Hearty regards,
Rosa Weininger
LETTER XII
Budapest
May 15, 1939
Dear Doctor:
My father looked like Nietzsche.
On my brother's tomb my father placed this inscription: "This
stone marks the resting place of a young man whose spirit found
no peace in this world. When he had delivered the message of his
soul, he could no longer remain among the living. He betook him-
self to the place of death of one of the greatest of all men, the
Schwarzspanierhaus in Vienna, and there destroyed his mortal
body. "
Otto was five feet and eight inches in height. I do not have the
first edition of Vber die letzten Dinge, but I will try to find it. I
have only the second and sixth editions.
Rosa Weininger
LETTER XIII
11. 6.
1939
20 Maresfield Gardens
London N. W. 3
Tel: Hampstead 2002
Dear Colleague:
My delayed answer is due to a week-long illness which has pre-
vented me from writing. I shall gladly answer your questions. Yes,
I am the person who gave Probst this description of Weininger's
personality. Weininger was never my patient, but one of his friends
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? 208 Appendix
was. Through this means Weininger became acquainted with the
views on bisexuality which I had already applied in my analysis,
prompted by Fliess. He constructed his book about this idea. I do
not know the difference between . . . [undecipherable] and his
thesis. In the manuscript Otto Weininger gave me to read there
were no depreciatory words about the Jews and much less criticism
of women. He had also to a large extent given consideration to my
views on hysteria.
I am,
Sincerely yours,
Freud
LETTER XIV
Budapest
6-27-39
Dear Doctor:
I have two letters to thank you for. In answer I wish to inform
you as follows:
(1) Otto showed an interest in social problems, but no more
than other young men. He was a member of the Society for Social
Science.
(2) Our name always was Weininger, and we always were Jews.
(3) My grandparents were from Vienna, as were their parents
also.
(4) My mother was a beautiful and quiet wife. She had seven
children, of whom three died. She was only a housewife and mother
and had a gift for languages. She was overshadowed by the stronger
personality of her husband.
(5) My father was a craftsman in gold, silver, and porcelain. He
created several artistic pieces which have been acquired by Ameri-
cans. He was a great linguist and musician. He was strong in mind
and feeling, in expressions of divine goodness and unflinching sever-
ity, and he was feared by us all.
(6) As a father peerless, never to be equaled, he cared with the
greatest devotion for the lives and souls of his children. Through
him we became familiar with the most sublime beauty in the world
of art. He knew no moderation in his severity and criticism. He
was loved and feared by us all. . . . If we ever told a lie, he would
punish us at once. His demands upon us were enormous; if we did
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? LETTER WRITTEN BY FREUD, JUNE 11, 1939
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? 210
Appendix
not live up to them, he was mortally wounded. My father never had
an education. At the age of twenty-two he was a correspondent in
foreign languages in the banking house of Elias. Upon his marriage
at this time, he started his handicraft. Museums in London, Paris,
and Vienna exhibited a number of his creations. My father was
anti-Semitic although he thought as a Jew.
I am still searching for the first edition of Uber die letzten Dinge.
Cordially yours,
Rosa Weininger
LETTER XV
6-24-39
Dear Doctor:
The letter which was returned to you unopened came to me
today. The address was illegible. I owe you an answer, as I now
see I had forgotten to answer you previously.
(1) The frivolity of my paternal uncle consisted in deserting his
wife and two small children without any further care of the chil-
dren. My father never forgave him for this, and when my uncle
was lying on his deathbed at the age of forty, my father refused
his request to come and see him. But my father raised my uncle's
children and made them two good men, who up to this time have
lived in Vienna but now have fled to America.
(2) My uncle deserted his family for another woman who lived
in common-law relation with him. I did not know of any other
frivolity.
(3) No, Otto was not happy. A peculiar fellow? No, I do not
believe so. But he was a very hard worker. During nights, many
nights, most nights, he worked by the light of a small candle, and
beside him was a glass of milk which in the evening I brought to
his bare room. Certainly his mind was overworked, his body tired;
but remember, he was only twenty-two when he created his work.
Yours,
Rosa Boschan Weiningeb
LETTER XVI
6-29-39
Dear Doctor:
My paternal uncle was the youngest of five children. He died at
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? Appendix 211
the age of forty. He was a businessman, arid he was charming and
handsome.
There were no conflicts in my uncle's house. He deserted his wife
and children suddenly, without seeing them again.
My maternal aunts were orderly persons who died at an early
age. A maternal uncle had a miserable existence. I myself knew
only one aunt, who was a singer. About the one brother, I hear
that he was not honest.
I had thousands of letters from my father, who wrote me every
day, often three times a day.
Many thanks,
Rosa B. Weintnger
LETTER XVII
Zermatt
Dear Doctor:
(1) Otto was the second child. The first was Helene and she
died at the age of three of diphtheria. The second boy was Franz,
and he died at the age of fifteen as the result of an appendicitis
attack.
(2) My paternal uncle was thirty years old when he deserted his
wife. >
(3) His name was Friedrich.
(4) He died of pneumonia.
(5) Mathilde and Karoline are both my sisters. Karoline is the
youngest. She is forty years old and the most talented of us girls,
particularly philologically. I am now staying with her.
(6) The creations of which Otto spoke on the postcard sent to
me were pieces of poetry which I had written as a girl and which
he published in a Vienna periodical.
(7) The photo of my mother I sent to you four weeks ago, but
it seems that it has been lost and I will send you another when I
return home.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weintnger
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? 212
Appendix
LETTER XVIII
Dear Doctor:
Otto moved from home in 1901. 1 myself rented a room for him.
He changed rooms often. The reason for his moving was that there
were many children at home. Otto did not get the quiet he liked,
and his irregular life--the nights during which he worked--an-
noyed my father, and he advised Otto to find a room for himself.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weininger
LETTER XIX
Vienna
7-21-39
Dear Doctor:
Miss Meyer was a quite indifferent person, and Otto did not
know her. She was only an acquaintance of mine. She wanted to
know Otto.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weininger
LETTER XX
Budapest
7-27-39
Dear Doctor:
Miss Meyer asked me often to introduce her to Otto, but the
matter was not of much importance. At last she spent one hour
with him, and she wrote me, "I have been with Jesus Christ. " (I
still have the postcard. )
I do not know where this Miss Meyer is now.
Yours,
Rosa B. Weininger
<
LETTER XXI
Rena, Norway
7-29-39
Dear Doctor:
Knut Hamsun asked to be excused for his delay in replying to
your letter. If he had received a letter or greeting from Weininger,
Hamsun would have remembered it; but it did not happen. Hamsun
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? Appendix 213
has only--more than once--read his work, Sex and Character, and
each time he became annoyed at|Gjellerup's childish and superior
attitude.
Respectfully yours,
Kntjt Hamsun
[per] MH
LETTER XXII
Nerholz
8-11-39
Doctor David Abrahamsen:\
Hamsun regrets he has no remembrance of Weininger's visiting
him at this time.
Respectfully yours,
Maria Hamsun
LETTER XXIII
Budapest, January 24, 1940
My very dear Doctor:
. . . I sent you an enlargement of a portrait of my mother; it is,
regrettably, the only one I have. This picture shows my mother at
the time just after she had given birth to Otto. . . .
My mother was slim, delicate, small, a warm human being, a
thinking individual, a beautiful woman with beautiful hair--dark
hair, which even at her death was not gray. She was not egocentric;
she was a good mother, a good woman.
But in spite of all this the married life of my parents was not
peaceful. That was due to my father's strong personality, his sharp
criticism, and his great demands upon his family. We children let
Mother spoil us, we confided in her, but to us Father was the su-
preme judge.
Today, as a mature woman, I judge my parents' life in quite a
different light. I think that because of her many children, because
of her wonderful but difficult husband, my mother had a hard task
which she could manage only with the greatest mental and physical
difficulty. She was ill and suffered for years from bronchio-catarrh.
I am certain of one thing: with an average, ordinary husband, my
mother would undoubtedly have been a happy wife.
My father had, for Puritanical reasons, never deceived my mother;
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? 214 Appendix
Father and Mother lived a very erotic life. He loved her dearly as
a woman and she loved him, only him. But there were storms in
their life which darkened our youth.
Yours,
Rosa Boschan Weininger
LETTER XXIV
Bayreuth
August 20, 1902
Dear Rosa:
In the excitement of hearing The Flying Dutchman I could have
kissed both you and Richard had you been here. . . . Of course,
I have heard the Flying Dutchman played many times, but I have
never before experienced the toneful effects I heard today. It was
quite indescribable. I felt quite drunk when I left the Playhouse
(Festspielhaus), and only the worldly glitter of the dressed-up crowd
leaving the theater made me unfortunately, painfully sober. When
The Dutchman affects me in this way, what would I not feel listen-
ing to Parsifal, the playing of which I heard on the train (What a
prosaic place! ) without any prospect of ever reaching a complete
understanding of this wonderful masterpiece. . . . To me Richard
Wagner will always be, above everyone else, the great tone poet!
How shall I enjoy Parsifal after hearing it only one time and with-
out any theoretical musical preparation? I would be very happy
if I could enjoy this as I did when I for the first time, thirty years
ago, heard Meistersinger, and twenty-seven years ago heard Tristan
in Munich.
I received your letter of yesterday, dear Rosa. No, I was" not
annoyed to hear that Otto had enjoyed Parsifal before I had. I
have from your earliest years educated you so that you should learn
only that which was beautiful and noble, and I acknowledge with
pleasure that Otto is an aesthetic human being. I heard very much
about his travels, which have filled me with satisfaction. But he
should have obeyed me in all things! I did not demand from you
blind obedience; seeing the facts yourself, you should have listened
to me, Otto particularly. I am afraid for his material future.
I will keep this letter until this evening. It is three o'clock in the
afternoon, and at four o'clock Parsifal begins; it will close at a
quarter to eleven.
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