Hjelmar von Danneville

Dr. Hjelmar von Danneville (1860-1930) was a prisoner in New Zealand suspected of being an imposter during World War I due to her gender non-conformity.

Hjelmar von Danneville
von Danneville pictured between 1914 and 1917.
Born1860
Denmark
Died17 February 1930
San Francisco, CA
Other namesHjelmar von Dannevill; Hjelmar Danneville

Life

Born in Denmark in 1860, she arrived in Wellington in 1911, claiming to have studied medicine in Switzerland.[1] She also claimed to have been a correspondent working on the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.[2]

Because of her short hair, masculine style of dress, and foreign accent, von Danneville was suspected of being a German imposter by the New Zealand authorities during World War I.[2] She was subjected to a forced medical examination by the military to determine her sex, and was interned for six weeks on Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington Harbour in 1917.[3][4] She was the only woman to be interned on the island.

von Danneville moved to San Francisco in 1918, where she continued to fight with local authorities - including her arrest in 1925 "for masquerading as a man" - but ultimately obtained a permit to wear masculine clothes. She died in San Francisco in 1930.[5]

Based on her personal letters, modern historians have suspected that von Danneville may have been a lesbian.[6]

von Danneville was the subject of an exhibition at Wellington's Enjoy Public Art Gallery in 2018.[7][8]

Her story was featured in a 2019 non-fiction book by historian Jared Davidson, Dead Letters: Censorship and Subversion in New Zealand 1914–1920.[9]

References
  1. "Great War Stories: Somes Island's only female prisoner". Newshub. 22 April 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  2. "Keeping the home fires burning | WW100 New Zealand". ww100.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  3. "Seeing red | Blog | National Library of New Zealand". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  4. andrew.stone@nzherald.co.nz, Andrew Stone News Editor, NZ Herald (27 August 2017). "Dissenters in wartime felt state's anger". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  5. "Woman Who Masqueraded As Man 12 Years Dies" (Volume 16, No. 265). The Austin American. 18 February 1930. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  6. Wood, Katie (18 December 2019). "Dead Letters: Censorship and Subversion in New Zealand 1914–1920". The Journal of New Zealand Studies (NS29). doi:10.26686/jnzs.v0iNS29.6272. ISSN 2324-3740. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  7. "Art - In Between". Salient. 81 (1): 41. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. "hardening". enjoy.org.nz. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  9. Davidson, Jared (2019). Dead letters : censorship and subversion in New Zealand, 1914-1920. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press. ISBN 9781988531526.
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