Claudia Schmölders

Claudia Schmölders, also Claudia Henn-Schmölders (born October 25, 1944 in Heidelberg) is a cultural scientist, author and translator.

Life

Schmölders completed a study of music science, German studies and philosophy at the Universities of Cologne, Zurich, Berlin and New York. She attained a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Free University of Berlin in 1973. From 1975 to 1999, she was actively a freelance publicist, literary editor and editor for different publishing firms besides teaching services at the University of Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Berlin. She was named a Fellow at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Paris in 1991 and the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin in 1991/92. She did her habilitation at the Humboldt University of Berlin with work on physiognomy and from 1998 until 2008 she has served is a private docent at the Institute of Cultural Science of Humboldt University.

Schmölders concerns herself as a cultural scientist among other things with the histories of physiognomy, book culture, politeness and conversation in Europe. Besides that she has looked after numerous literary anthologies and has also came out with numerous literature and children's books as a translator.

Since 2000, Schmölders has been a member of P.E.N.-Zentrum Deutschland. She received the 2004 Heinrich Mann Prize.

Works

• Simplizität, Naivetät, Einfalt (Simplicity, Naivety and Simplemindedness), Zürich 1974 (available online)
• Die Stärke der Stille (The Power of Solitude), Cologne 1984 (together with Marion Yorck von Wartenburg); 5th Edition 1995; engl. Edition 2000.
• Das Vorurteil im Leibe. Eine Einführung in die Physiognomik (The Prejudice in the Body. An Introduction in the history of Physiognomy), Berlin 1995; 3rd Edition 2007
• Hitlers Gesicht. Eine physiognomische Biographie, München 2000; Hitler's Face. A Biography of an Image. Transl. Adrian Daub.Philadelphia 2005; polish Ed. in 2009

Editorial work

• Jules Verne: Die großen Seefahrer und Entdecker (The Great Seafarer and Discoverer), Zürich 1974
• Über Balzac (About Balzac), Zürich 1977; 1993; 3rd Enlarged Edition Zürich 2007
• Über Simenon (About Simenon), Zürich 1978
• Die Kunst des Gesprächs. Texte zur Geschichte der europäischen Konversationstheorie (The Art of Conversation. Texts about the History of the European Conversation Theory), München 1979; 1986 (available online)
• Vom Paradies und anderen Gärten (From Paradise and Other Gardens), Cologne 1983
• Die wilde Frau (The Wild Woman), Cologne 1983; 6th Edition 2009
• Die Märchen-Arche (The Fairytale Ark), Cologne 1984
• Deutsche Briefe (German Letters), Frankfurt am Main 1987 et al.
• Das Märchenbuch (The Fairytale Book), Frankfurt am Main 1987
• Einladung zum Essen (Invitation to Dinner), Frankfurt am Main 1989 et al.
• Japan, Insel-Almanach (Japan, Island Almanac), Frankfurt am Main 1989 (together with Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit)
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Mit Goethe durch den Garten (With Goethe through the Garden), Frankfurt am Main 1989
• Liebes-Erklärungen (Love's Explanations), Berlin 1993
• Die Erfindung der Liebe. Berühmte Zeugnisse aus drei Jahrtausenden (The Invention of Love. Famous Texts from the 3rd Century BC until 20th Century), München 1996 et al.
• Der exzentrische Blick. Gepräch über Physiognomik (The Eccentric Look. A Talk about Physiognomy at the Library of Wolfenbüttel), Berlin 1996
• Deutsche Kinder. 17 Biographische Porträts (German Children. 17 Biographical Portraits), Berlin 1997
• Gesichter der Weimarer Republik. Eine physiognomische Kulturgeschichte (Faces of the Weimar Republic. A Physiognomical Cultural History), Cologne 2000, together with Sander L. Gilman

Translations

• Valmiki: Das Ramayana, Cologne 1984; 5th Edition 2004
• Jean de Brunhoff: Die Geschichte von Babar, dem kleinen Elefanten (The History of Babar the Little Elephant), Zürich 1976
• Ernest W. Hornung: Raffles, der Dieb in der Nacht (Raffles, the Thief in the Night), Zürich 1976
• William Somerset Maugham: Rosie und die Künstler (Rosie and the Artist), Zürich 1973 (translated together with Hans Kauders)
• Beatrix Potter: Die gesammelten Abenteuer von Peter Hase (The Collected Adventures of Peter Hase), Zürich 1986
• Ennis Rees: Katz und Fuchs und Hund und Hummer (Cat and Fox and Dog and Lobster), Zürich 1976
• Maurice Sendak: Was tust du dann? (What do you do then?), Zürich 1973
• Maurice Sendak: Where the Wild Things Are, Zürich 1967
• Tomi Ungerer: Der Hut (The Hat), Zürich 1972
• H. G. Wells: The War of the Worlds Zürich 1974 (übersetzt zusammen mit G. A. Crüwell)
• H. G. Wells: The Invisible Man Zürich 1974 (übersetzt zusammen mit Alfred Winternitz)

External links

• Literature by and on Claudia Schmölders in the Catalog of the German National Library
• Homepage (German)
• Simplizität, Naivetät, Einfalt – Studien zur ästhetischen Terminologie in Frankreich und in Deutschland, 1674 - 1771 (thesis, 1974) (German)