Toni Ebel: Difference between revisions

Toni Ebel
Toni Ebel
	Self-portrait, 1955
Born	November 10, 1881; Berlin, German Empire
Died	June 9, 1961 (aged 79); East Berlin, East Germany
Occupation	painter

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Toni Ebel (10 November 1881 - 9 June 1961) was a German painter, housekeeping staff of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, and one of the first trans women to receive gender-affirming surgery.^[1]

Life and work

Toni Ebel was the oldest of eleven children of an evangelical family.^[1] After graduating from high school, Ebel apprenticed as a decorator and businessperson. With her first paycheck, she bought a wig and a dress, which were discovered and burnt by her parents. Around 1901 she fell in love with a man, which caused arguments with her family, so she left home for Munich, where she studied painting. She also traveled around Germany, Austria, and Italy. In Venice, Ebel met an elderly American man, who became her patron and partner for a few years. In 1908, Ebel returned to Berlin and lived as a "man", married a woman named Olga, and had a son. Ebel did not feel comfortable playing the role of a man and husband, and tried four times to commit suicide. Around this period she, under her deadname, gained a good reputation in the artistic circles of Käthe Kollwitz. In 1916, she was drafted into the army, fighting in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in Champagne. She was discharged to the reserves after suffering a mental breakdown.^[1] In 1925, Ebel became, temporarily, a member of the USPD. She later described herself as having been "always a proletarian painter".^[1]

After Olga fell ill and died in 1928, Ebel, who lived and worked as a painter first in Berlin-Steglitz, then in Wedding, decided to transition. Around this time, she met Charlotte Charlaque, who was also transitioning. She made a formal application for a legal name change to Annie in 1929, which was rejected. Her name change to Toni was accepted in 1930. With the support of Magnus Hirschfeld, Ebel underwent five gender confirmation surgeries conducted by Erwin Gohrbandt, Felix Abraham [de] and Ludwig Levy-Lenz. She was among the first individuals to have undergone gender confirmation surgery.^[2] According to the surgeons, the first operation for both Ebel and Charlaque took place "between 6 January 1929 and 14 November 1930", and according to Ragnar Ahlstedt, Ebel was the third patient to have received that procedure ever.^[1] In 1931, Felix Abraham published a paper giving the details of the vaginoplasty operations on Ebel and Dora Richter in Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft und Sexualpolitik. (Journal of Sexology and Sexual Politics)^[3]

In 1933, footage of Ebel, Charlaque, and Dora Richter (all anonymously/uncredited) was used as a documentary segment in the Austrian movie Mysterium des Geschlechtes (Mystery of Sex) about contemporary sexology.^[1] The same year, Ebel and Charlaque hosted Swede Ragnar Ahlstedt [d], who wrote about them in the book Män, som blivit kvinnor (Men, who became women), but they did not mention Richter to him.^[1] When the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute of Sexology) was attacked in 1933, a collection of Ebel's drawings and paintings was destroyed.

In 1933, Ebel converted to Judaism, the faith of Charlaque, her partner. Both lived in modest circumstances in a sublet at Nollendorfstrasse 24 in Berlin-Schöneberg. Ebel received a small pension and earned some additional income from the sale of pictures. They were repeatedly harassed by their neighbours, and in 1942, they were forced to separate. After a warning from her half-sister, Ebel fled to Czechoslovakia with Charlaque in 1934. Until 1935, they lived in the Karlovy Vary (Rybáře), where Ebel painted pictures for guests of the spa. They then moved to Prague, and in 1937, to Brno, where they kept in touch with Karl Giese up until his suicide.^[1] Ebel lived in Prague under the name Antonia Ebelova and worked as a painter. In 1942, Charlaque was arrested by the Aliens Police; she later managed to go to the United States.^[2]

After the end of the war, Ebel lived in East Germany, where she received a small pension as a victim of the "racial prejudice" of National Socialism, and continued to work as a painter. She mainly created landscape pictures and portraits, and received attention in East Germany from the 1950s on. She was a member of the Association of Visual Artists of East Germany and was represented at the German art exhibitions in Dresden in 1953, 1958/1959, and 1962/1963. Her gender was not questioned, even with many noticing her "low voice".^[1]

Selected works

Selbstporträt (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fourth German Art Exhibition in 1958/1959)^[4]
Fallobst (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fourth German Art Exhibition in 1958/1959)^[5]
Arbeiterveteran (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fifth German Art Exhibition in 1962/1963)^[6]
Bildnis meiner Schwester (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fifth German Art Exhibition in 1962/1963)^[7]
Wissen ist Macht (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fourth German Art Exhibition in 1958/1959)^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Wolfert, Raimund (2021). Charlotte Charlaque : Transfrau, Laienschauspielerin, "Königin der Brooklyn Heights Promenade" (in German) (1st ed.). Leipzig. ISBN 978-3-95565-475-7. OCLC 1286534661.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ ^a ^b Wolfert, Raimund (2015). ""Sage, Toni, denkt man so bei euch drüben?" Auf den Spuren von Curt Scharlach alias Charlotte Charlaque (1892 -?) und Toni Ebel (1881-1961)". Lesbengeschichte (in German). Retrieved 2021-06-05.
^ Abraham, Felix (1997). "Genital Reassignment on Two Male Transvestites". The International Journal of Transgenderism. Archived from the original on 2007-05-02.
^ "Selbstporträt". Deutsche Fotothek.
^ "Fallobst". Deutsche Fotothek. 1959.
^ "Arbeiterveteran". Deutsche Fotothek. 1962.
^ "Bildnis meiner Schwester". Deutsche Fotothek. 1962.
^ "Wissen ist Macht". Deutsche Fotothek. 1959.

[Wolfert-2021-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Wolfert, Raimund (2021). Charlotte Charlaque : Transfrau, Laienschauspielerin, "Königin der Brooklyn Heights Promenade" (in German) (1st ed.). Leipzig. ISBN 978-3-95565-475-7. OCLC 1286534661.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[Wolfert-2015-2] Wolfert, Raimund (2015). ""Sage, Toni, denkt man so bei euch drüben?" Auf den Spuren von Curt Scharlach alias Charlotte Charlaque (1892 -?) und Toni Ebel (1881-1961)". Lesbengeschichte (in German). Retrieved 2021-06-05.

[3] Abraham, Felix (1997). "Genital Reassignment on Two Male Transvestites". The International Journal of Transgenderism. Archived from the original on 2007-05-02.

[4] "Selbstporträt". Deutsche Fotothek.

[5] "Fallobst". Deutsche Fotothek. 1959.

[6] "Arbeiterveteran". Deutsche Fotothek. 1962.

[7] "Bildnis meiner Schwester". Deutsche Fotothek. 1962.

[8] "Wissen ist Macht". Deutsche Fotothek. 1959.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|German painter and trans woman (1881-1961)}}
-{{Orphan|date=June 2021}}
+{{Infobox person
+| name               = Toni Ebel
+| image              = Toni Ebel self-portrait.jpeg
+| alt                = See caption
+| caption            = Self-portrait, 1955
+| birth_date         = {{birth date|1881|11|10}}
+| death_date         = {{death date and age|1961|6|9|1881|11|10}}
+| birth_place        = [[Berlin]], [[German Empire]]
+| death_place        = [[East Berlin, East Germany]]
+| occupation         = painter
+}}
+'''Toni Ebel''' (10 November 1881 - 9 June 1961) was a German painter, housekeeping staff of the ''[[Institut für Sexualwissenschaft]]'', and one of the first [[Trans woman|trans women]] to receive [[gender-affirming surgery]].<ref name="Wolfert-2021" />
-'''Toni Ebel''' (born 10 November 1881 in [[Berlin]]; died 9 June 1961 in Berlin) was a German painter, housekeeping staff of the [[Institut für Sexualwissenschaft]] and one of the first [[Trans woman|trans women]] who received a [[Sex reassignment surgery (male-to-female)|sex reassignment surgery]], possibly before [[Lili Elbe]].<ref name=":1" />
-{{Portal|LGBT}}
 == Life and work ==
-Toni Ebel was the oldest of eleven children of an evangelical family.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Wolfert |first=Raimund |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1286534661 |title=Charlotte Charlaque : Transfrau, Laienschauspielerin, "Königin der Brooklyn Heights Promenade" |date=2021 |isbn=978-3-95565-475-7 |edition=1. Auflage |location=Leipzig |oclc=1286534661 |language=de}}</ref> After graduating from high school, Ebel apprenticed as a decorator and businessman, and for the first earned money bought a wig and a dress, discovered and burnt by her parents. Around 1901 she fell in love with a man, which caused arguments with her family, so she left home, studied painting in Munich and also traveled around Germany, Austria and Italy. In Venice Ebel met an elderly American man, who became her patron and partner for few years. In 1908 Ebel went back to Berlin and lived as a man, married a woman named Olga and had a son. Ebel did not feel comfortable in a man's and husband's role and tried four times to commit suicide. Around this period she, under her deadname, gained a good reputation in the artistic circles of [[Käthe Kollwitz]]. In 1916 she was drafted into the army, fighting in trenches in [[Meuse–Argonne offensive|Champagne]], and then discarded to reserves after suffering a mental breakdown.<ref name=":1" /> In 1925 Ebel became temporarily a member of the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|USPD]], she also later described herself as "always a proletarian painter".<ref name=":1" />
+Toni Ebel was the oldest of eleven children of an evangelical family.<ref name="Wolfert-2021">{{Cite book |last=Wolfert |first=Raimund |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1286534661 |title=Charlotte Charlaque : Transfrau, Laienschauspielerin, "Königin der Brooklyn Heights Promenade" |date=2021 |isbn=978-3-95565-475-7 |edition=1st |location=Leipzig |oclc=1286534661 |language=de}}</ref> After graduating from high school, Ebel apprenticed as a decorator and businessperson. With her first paycheck, she bought a wig and a dress, which were discovered and burnt by her parents. Around 1901 she fell in love with a man, which caused arguments with her family, so she left home for Munich, where she studied painting. She also traveled around Germany, Austria, and Italy. In Venice, Ebel met an elderly American man, who became her patron and partner for a few years. In 1908, Ebel returned to Berlin and lived as a "man", married a woman named Olga, and had a son. Ebel did not feel comfortable playing the role of a man and husband, and tried four times to commit suicide. Around this period she, under her deadname, gained a good reputation in the artistic circles of [[Käthe Kollwitz]]. In 1916, she was drafted into the army, fighting in the [[Meuse–Argonne offensive|Meuse-Argonne Offensive in Champagne]]. She was discharged to the reserves after suffering a mental breakdown.<ref name="Wolfert-2021" /> In 1925, Ebel became, temporarily, a member of the [[Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany|USPD]]. She later described herself as having been "always a proletarian painter".<ref name="Wolfert-2021" />
-After Olga fell ill and died in 1928, Toni, who lived and worked as a painter first in Berlin-Steglitz, then in Wedding, decided to transition. Around this time she met [[Charlotte Charlaque]], also transitioning. She made a formal application for a [[legal name change]] to Annie in 1929, which was rejected, and an accepted application for the name Toni in 1930. With the support of [[Magnus Hirschfeld]], Toni underwent five [[sex reassignment surgery|sex reassignment surgeries]] conducted by [[Erwin Gohrbandt]], {{ill|Felix Abraham|de}} and [[Ludwig Levy-Lenz]]. It was one of the first sex reassignment surgeries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Wolfert |first=Raimund |date=2015 |title="Sage, Toni, denkt man so bei euch drüben?" Auf den Spuren von Curt Scharlach alias Charlotte Charlaque (1892 -?) und Toni Ebel (1881-1961) |url=https://www.lesbengeschichte.org/bio_charlaque_d.html |access-date=2021-06-05 |website=Lesbengeschichte |language=de}}</ref> According to the surgeons, the first operation for both Toni and Charlotte took place "between 6 January 1929 and 14 November 1930" and according to Ragnar Ahlsted, Toni was the third patient of that procedure ever.<ref name=":1" /> In 1931 Felix Abraham published a paper giving the details of the [[vaginoplasty]] operations on Richter and Ebel in ''Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft und Sexualpolitik''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abraham |first=Felix |date=1997 |title=Genital Reassignment on Two Male Transvestites |url=https://www.symposion.com:80/ijt/ijtc0302.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502001044/http:/www.symposion.com:80/ijt/ijtc0302.htm |archive-date=2007-05-02 |publisher=The International Journal of Transgenderism |language=en}}</ref>
+After Olga fell ill and died in 1928, Ebel, who lived and worked as a painter first in Berlin-[[Steglitz]], then in [[Wedding (Berlin)|Wedding]], decided to transition. Around this time, she met {{ill|Charlotte Charlaque|WD=116172471}}, who was also transitioning. She made a formal application for a [[legal name change]] to Annie in 1929, which was rejected. Her name change to Toni was accepted in 1930. With the support of [[Magnus Hirschfeld]], Ebel underwent five [[sex reassignment surgery|gender confirmation surgeries]] conducted by [[Erwin Gohrbandt]], {{ill|Felix Abraham|de}} and [[Ludwig Levy-Lenz]]. She was among the first individuals to have undergone gender confirmation surgery.<ref name="Wolfert-2015">{{Cite web |last=Wolfert |first=Raimund |date=2015 |title="Sage, Toni, denkt man so bei euch drüben?" Auf den Spuren von Curt Scharlach alias Charlotte Charlaque (1892 -?) und Toni Ebel (1881-1961) |url=https://www.lesbengeschichte.org/bio_charlaque_d.html |access-date=2021-06-05 |website=Lesbengeschichte |language=de}}</ref> According to the surgeons, the first operation for both Ebel and Charlaque took place "between 6 January 1929 and 14 November 1930", and according to Ragnar Ahlstedt, Ebel was the third patient to have received that procedure ever.<ref name="Wolfert-2021" /> In 1931, Felix Abraham published a paper giving the details of the [[vaginoplasty]] operations on Ebel and [[Dora Richter]] in ''Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft und Sexualpolitik''. (J''ournal of Sexology and Sexual Politics)''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abraham |first=Felix |date=1997 |title=Genital Reassignment on Two Male Transvestites |url=https://www.symposion.com:80/ijt/ijtc0302.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502001044/http:/www.symposion.com:80/ijt/ijtc0302.htm |archive-date=2007-05-02 |publisher=The International Journal of Transgenderism |language=en}}</ref>
-In 1933 footage of Toni, Charlotte and [[Dora Richter]] (all anonymously/uncredited) was used as a documentary segment in an Austrian movie ''Mysterium des Geschlechtes'' (''Mystery of Sex'') about contemporary sexology.<ref name=":1" /> The same year Toni and Charlotte hosted Swede Ragnar Ahlsted, who wrote about them in a book ''Män, som blivit kvinnor'' (''Men, who became women''), but they did not mention Dora to him.<ref name=":1" /> When the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was attacked in 1933, a collection of Ebel's drawings and paintings was destroyed.
+In 1933, footage of Ebel, Charlaque, and [[Dora Richter]] (all anonymously/uncredited) was used as a documentary segment in the Austrian movie ''Mysterium des Geschlechtes'' (''Mystery of Sex'') about contemporary sexology.<ref name="Wolfert-2021" /> The same year, Ebel and Charlaque hosted Swede {{ill|Ragnar Ahlstedt|d|110212429}}, who wrote about them in the book ''Män, som blivit kvinnor'' (''Men, who became women''), but they did not mention Richter to him.<ref name="Wolfert-2021" /> When the ''[[Institut für Sexualwissenschaft]]'' (''Institute of Sexology'') was attacked in 1933, a collection of Ebel's drawings and paintings was destroyed.
-In 1933 Toni Ebel converted to Judaism, the faith of her partner Charlaque. Both lived in modest circumstances, sublet at Nollendorfstrasse 24 in Berlin-Schöneberg. Toni Ebel received a small pension and earned some additional income from the sale of pictures. They were repeatedly harassed by their neighbors, and in 1942 they were forced to separate. After a warning from Ebels' half-sister, Toni Ebel fled to Czechoslovakia with Charlotte Charlaque in 1934. Until 1935 they lived in the [[Karlovy Vary]] (Rybáře), where Ebel painted pictures for Karlovy Vary spa guests. Then they moved to Prague and in 1937 to [[Brno]], where they kept in touch with [[Karl Giese]] before his suicide.<ref name=":1" /> Ebel lived in Prague under the name Antonia Ebelova and worked as a painter. In 1942 Charlotte Charlaque was arrested by the Aliens Police. She later managed to come to the USA.<ref name=":0" />
+In 1933, Ebel converted to [[Judaism]], the faith of Charlaque, her partner. Both lived in modest circumstances in a sublet at Nollendorfstrasse 24 in Berlin-[[Schöneberg]]. Ebel received a small pension and earned some additional income from the sale of pictures. They were repeatedly harassed by their neighbours, and in 1942, they were forced to separate. After a warning from her half-sister, Ebel fled to Czechoslovakia with Charlaque in 1934. Until 1935, they lived in the [[Karlovy Vary]] (Rybáře), where Ebel painted pictures for guests of the spa. They then moved to Prague, and in 1937, to [[Brno]], where they kept in touch with [[Karl Giese]] up until his suicide.<ref name="Wolfert-2021" /> Ebel lived in Prague under the name Antonia Ebelova and worked as a painter. In 1942, Charlaque was arrested by the Aliens Police; she later managed to go to the United States.<ref name="Wolfert-2015" />
-After the end of the war, Toni Ebel lived in [[East Germany]], where she received a small pension as a victim of "racial prejudice" of National Socialism and worked as a painter. She mainly created landscape pictures and portraits and received attention in East Germany since the 1950s. She was a member of the Association of Visual Artists of the East Germany and was represented at the German art exhibitions in Dresden in 1953, 1958/1959 and 1962/1963. Her gender was not questioned, even with many noticing her "low voice".<ref name=":1" />
+After the end of the war, Ebel lived in [[East Germany]], where she received a small pension as a victim of the "racial prejudice" of National Socialism, and continued to work as a painter. She mainly created landscape pictures and portraits, and received attention in East Germany from the 1950s on. She was a member of the Association of Visual Artists of East Germany and was represented at the German art exhibitions in Dresden in 1953, 1958/1959, and 1962/1963. Her gender was not questioned, even with many noticing her "low voice".<ref name="Wolfert-2021" />
 == Selected works ==
@@ Line 20: / Line 31: @@
 * ''Bildnis meiner Schwester'' (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fifth German Art Exhibition in 1962/1963)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.deutschefotothek.de/documents/obj/30126931/df_hauptkatalog_0212044_016|title=Bildnis meiner Schwester|website=Deutsche Fotothek|year=1962 }}</ref>
 * ''Wissen ist Macht'' (Oil painting; exhibited at the Fourth German Art Exhibition in 1958/1959)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.deutschefotothek.de/documents/obj/30125279/df_hauptkatalog_0211847_002_032|title = Wissen ist Macht| year=1959|website=Deutsche Fotothek }}</ref>
+== See also ==
+{{Portal-inline|LGBTQ}}
 == References ==
 {{Reflist}}
-{{LGBT people}}
+{{LGBTQ people}}
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebel, Toni}}
@@ Line 29: / Line 46: @@
 [[Category:1961 deaths]]
 [[Category:20th-century German Jews]]
-[[Category:Transgender women]]
+[[Category:Transgender women artists]]
-[[Category:Victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes]]
+[[Category:Victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes]]
 [[Category:20th-century German painters]]
 [[Category:Transgender painters]]
-[[Category:German women painters]]
+[[Category:German transgender women]]
 [[Category:Transgender history in Germany]]
-[[Category:20th-century German women artists]]
 [[Category:Converts to Judaism from Protestantism]]
 [[Category:Transgender Jews]]
-[[Category:Artists from Berlin]]
+[[Category:Painters from Berlin]]
-[[Category:German LGBT painters]]
+[[Category:German LGBTQ painters]]
+[[Category:German socialists]]
+[[Category:20th-century German women painters]]