Julia Kerr

Julia Kerr, (August 28, 1898 – October 3, 1965) was a German composer and pianist. As a composer she used the name Julia Kerwey. She also worked as a translator during the Nuremberg trials.

Julia Kerr
BornAugust 28, 1898
Wiesbaden, Germany
DiedOctober 3,1965
Berlin, Germany
NationalityGermany
Other namesJulia Kerwey
Spouse(s)Alfred Kerr
ChildrenJudith Kerr
Michael Kerr (judge)

Biography

Kerr was born in Wiesbaden August 28, 1898 as Julia Anna Franziska Weismann to the Prussian prosecutor Robert Weismann and his wife Gertrude, née Reichenheim. She studied music with Wilhelm Klatte in Berlin. Kerr married theater critic Alfred Kerr in April 1920. They had Michael and Judith Kerr. The family were Jewish and it became necessary to flee Germany in 1933. Initially they fled to Switzerland and then France before settling in England in 1935. In London Kerr worked in secretarial jobs until the end of the war. Once the war was over she took roles as an interpreter and secretary in the Nuremberg war crimes trial. Kerr had returned to live in Germany after the war and was living in Berlin when she suffered a heart attack and died.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Kerr's first opera's was Die schoene Lau after a fairy tale by Eduard Mörike, written and first performed 1928[7] In 1929 Alfred started to write the libretto for her second opera Der Chronoplan [8] which was delayed due to her emigration. Kerr also composed songs, often after poems by her husband[1][9][6]

References
  1. "Judith Kerr". BBC Private Passions. 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  2. "Artists After the Escape: Judith Kerr – flight as an adventure – 23.05.2019". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  3. "The Tiger Who Came to Tea author Judith Kerr: 'I'd be in despair if I didn't work'". The Telegraph. 2018-06-02. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  4. Harrison Smith (24 May 2019). "Judith Kerr, refugee from Nazi Germany who wrote 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea', dies at 95". The Washington Post.
  5. Hagerty, James R. (2019-06-07). "Judith Kerr Told Her Daughter a Tale and Found a Career". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  6. Murray, A. (2017). Into The Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale (Revised & updated ed.). Headpress. ISBN 978-1-909394-47-6. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  7. Neues Wiener Journal, Vienna, February 10, 1928, page 6
  8. Die Stunde, Vienna, June 2, 1929, page 14
  9. Griffel, M. R. (2018). Operas in German: A Dictionary. Operas in German. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-4797-0. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
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