1995/01/01 by Jacqueline Simpson · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/0015587x.1995.9715896
openalex publication_date 1995/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
The death of Ellen Ettlinger deprives the Folklore Society of one of its oldest and most devoted members. Although age and ill-health had kept her away from meetings in recent years, she maintained her strong interest in the subject; it is fitting that the last of the many reviews she wrote for this journal appears elsewhere in this issue. Born Ellen Rathenau, she came of a Jewish family highly distinguished in German history and politics, but one which, for that reason, attracted Nazi persecution--an older cousin, who had served as Foreign Minister, was assassinated as early as 1922. Ellen, with her two young children, took refuge for some years in a remote part of Bavaria, where she was delighted by the picturesque folk art, customs and beliefs of the area. Even so, she eventually had to flee and arrived in Oxford in 1938, only to be classified as an enemy alien once the war broke out. With huge determination, she mastered English, acquired domestic skills, worked for the Red Cross, and found herself a niche in the intellectual life of Oxford.