Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel

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Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel (born January 21, 1944) is a German Professor of English, literary critic, Shakespeare scholar and writer who claims to have found conclusive answers to many of the unresolved problems of Shakespeare's life and literary career using trans-disciplinary research methods. Among the answers she claims to have found are Shakespeare's religion, the identity of the 'Dark Lady' of his sonnets, and the authentic portraits.[1][2]

Education, academic career and employment

Hammerschmidt-Hummel studied at the University of Marburg, earning her PhD in English Literature in 1972. After her habilitation at the University of Mainz in 1977, she was granted the venia legendi and has been teaching English Literature and Cultural Studies at the two universities since then. From 1979 to 1982, she served as Consul for Cultural Affairs at the German Consulate General in Toronto. From 1982 to 2005, Professor Hammerschmidt-Hummel was the senior research scholar and editor of the Shakespeare Illustration project, the archives of which she greatly enlarged after the founder of the archive, Professor Horst Oppel, died in 1982.[3]

Praise and Criticsm

Hammerschmidt-Hummel’s findings concerningShakespeare’s Catholicism (and its impact on his life and literary work),[4] the identity of his ‘Dark Lady’[5] as well as his authentic likenesses from hislifetime and immediately after his death[6] have been praised by many scholarsand scientific journalists,[7] but her work has also drawn some criticism. Onecritic stated that the Shakespeare scholar’s views are based on a “fundamentalmisunderstanding of visual art”.[8] Hammerschmidt-Hummel has refuted thiscriticism and was supported by eight international experts.[9] One expert  questioned the main argument againstHammerschmidt-Hummel’s view, i.e. that “[p]ortraits are not, and can never beforensic evidence of likeness”, saying instead that “[e]ven hand-drawn andpainted portraits have been employed for identification.”[10]

Publications

  • The Life and Times of William Shakespeare, 1564-1616. London: Chaucer Press, 2007
  • The True Face of William Shakespeare: The Poet's Death Mask and Likenesses from Three Periods of His Life. London: Chaucer Press, 2006
  • Die Shakespeare-Illustration (1594-2000) (Shakespearian illustrations, 1594 to 2000). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003, 3 vols.
  • Die verborgene Existenz des William Shakespeare: Dichter und Rebell im katholischen Untergrund (The Hidden Life of William Shakespeare: Poet and Rebel in the Catholic Underground). Freiburg im Breisgau: Verlag Herder, 2001.
  • Das Geheimnis um Shakespeares 'Dark Lady': Dokumentation einer Enthüllung (The Secret Surrounding Shakespeare's Dark Lady: Uncovering a Mystery). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft und Primus Verlag, 1999.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kurt Otten, "Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, Wiesbaden, zum 60. Geburtstag" [Porträts], Anglistik. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Anglistenverbandes 16:1 (2005), pp. 217-221, p. 220-1.
  2. ↑ Ruediger Ahrens, “Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel in der deutschen Shakespeare-Forschung” (Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel in German Shakespeare Research), in: Das neue digitale ‘Shakespeare-Bildarchiv Oppel-Hammerschmidt’ an der Universitätsbibliothek Mainz. Ed. by A. Anderhub and H. Hammerschmidt-Hummel, ArchiMeD [2011], pp. 32-35 – http://ubm.opus.hbz-nrw.de/volltexte/2011/2817/
  3. ↑ Cf. Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, "History of the Shakespeare Image Archive", http://www.uni-mainz.de/eng/downloads shakespeare_history_eng.pdf
  4. ↑ ”’Sein oder Nichtsein’. Zum Geburts- und Todestag Shakespeares” (‘To be or not to be’. On the Occasion of Shakespeare’s birthday and the day he died”) – http://www.zabern.de/beitrag/Sein_oder_Nicht_Sein/18638 Aldo Parmeggiani, “Aktenzeichen: William Shakespeare – Ein heimlicher Katholik?” (Reference: William Shakespeare – A secret Catholic?), Radio Vatikan (18 September 2011) – http://de.radiovaticana.va/news/2011/09/18/aktenzeichen:_william_shakespeare_-_ein_heimlicher_katholik/ted-521625 Peter Milward, “William Shake¬speare by Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel (London, Chaucer Press, 2007)”, The Heythrop Journal [Cambridge] 51.1 (2010), pp. 132-133 – http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2265.2009.00533_27.x/abstract Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, “Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, William Shakespeare: Seine Zeit – Sein Leben – Sein Werk. Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2003. 399 pp., c. 250 illus. English edition: The Life and Times of William Shakespeare. 1564-1616. London: Chaucer Press, 2007. Xii + 400 pp.”, Symbolism. An International Annual of Critical Aesthetics [New York: AMS] 9 (2009), pp. 369-375 – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pdf_s/Rezension%20Mirak-Weissbach%20-%20Symbolism%202009.pdf Andreas Kramarz, „The Historical Shakespeare. A New Biography Offers New Facts About the Bard’s Life and Faith“[On The Life and Times of William Shakespeare, 1564-1616 (2007) by Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel], National Catholic Register (June 22-28, 2008) – http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/the_historical_shakespeare/ „About Shakespeare“, Art Quarterly. The New Renaissance [Vienna] (August 2007), pp. 66-67 – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pdf_s/Engl.%20Translation%20-%20About%20Shakespeare%20ART%20QUARTERLY%20-%20August%202007%20_2_.pdf Thomas Merriam, „William Shakespeare. Seine Zeit - Sein Leben - Sein Werk by Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel (The Life and Times of William Shakespeare, 1564-1616)”, Religion and the Arts (Boston College) (2004). H. Hammerschmidt-Hummel, “The most important subject that can be: A Reply to E. A. J. Honigmann”, Connotations 12.2-3 (2002/2003), pp. 155-166 - http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/connotations/ham-hu1223.htm Kurt Otten, „Die verborgene Existenz des William Shakespeare. Dichter und Rebell im katholischen Untergrund“ (The Hidden Life of William Shakespeare: Poet and Rebel in the Catholic Underground), in: Anglistik. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Anglistenverbandes (International Journal of English Studies) (September 2001), pp. 181-185.
  5. ↑ Elisa Resznik, “Shakespeare in Love: Rätsel der ‘Dark Lady’-Sonette gelüftet” (Mystery of the ‘Dark Lady’ Sonnets Solved), Suite 101.de. Das Netzwerk der Autoren (Authors’ Network) (24 May 2010) – http://suite101.de/article/shakespeare-in-love-raetsel-der-dark-lady-sonette-gelueftet-a76632 “Ten minutes with Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel”, Family History Monthly No. 151 (Christmas 2007), p. 12 – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pressemitteilungen/fam_hist_mon_.JPG Wilhelm Hortmann, „Look here upon this picture and on this“ - Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, Das Geheimnis um Shakespeares 'Dark Lady'. Dokumentation einer Enthüllung (The Secret Surrounding Shakespeare’s Dark Lady). Shakespeare-Jahrbuch (Shakespeare Yearbook) 136 (2000), pp. 298-301 – http://www.shakespeare-gesellschaft.de/jahrbuch.html Clemens Rech, “Das Geheimnis um Shakespeares ‘Dark Lady’ im Spiegel von Medien und Fachwelt” (The Secret of Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’ as mirrored in the media and scholarly journals – a survey), Anglistik. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Anglistenverbandes (International Journal of English Studies) 11.2 (September 2000), pp. 161-170 –http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/translation/5dseptember2000.htm Ursula Sautter, „Darkness Visible. A new book purports to reveal the long-hidden identity of the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets“, Time Magazine (6 December 1999). Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, “Meet Shakespeare’s Dark Lady …”, Letter to David Tristram Davies, Letters Editor, Daily Telegraph (London) (2 October 1999). Claudia Gottschling, „Lady Di und der Dichter“ (Lady Di and the Poet), Focus (6. September 1999), S. 176-181 – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/bilder/s-1.jpg - http://www.focus.de/kultur/buecher/literaturwissenschaft-lady-di-und-der-dichter_aid_181116.html Nicholas Hellen and Caroline Gascoigne, “William finds a dark lady in his life”, The Sunday Times (22 August 1999), frontpage, full story “Is William descended from Will?”, p. 4
  6. ↑ Muriel Mirak-Weissbach, “Hildegard Hammer¬schmidt-Hummel, And the Flower Portrait of William Shakespeare is Genuine After All. Latest Investigations Again Prove its Authenticity. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2010, 115 pp., with c. 70 illus. on CD-ROM, Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies (September 2011), pp. 165-168 – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pdf_s/Mirak-Weißbach%20-%20And%20the%20Flower%20Portrait%20...%20Hammerschmidt_Anglistik.pdf “Neueste Ergebnisse auf dem Gebiet der Shakespeare-Forschung (Latest Findings the Field of Shakespeare Research), Damals (5 January 2011) – English translation: www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pdf_s/DAMALS - 5 1 11 – www.damals.de/de/8/Neueste-Ergebnisse-auf-dem-Gebiet-der-Shakespeare-Forschung.html?aid=190145&cp=2&action=showDetails Douglas Galbi, „A Shakespearean portrait after the Internet Reformation”, purple motes. A Journal of Whimsy and Hope (19 September 2010) – http://www.purplemotes.net/2010/09/19/a-shakespearean-portrait-after-the-internet-reformation/ Michael Patterson, „The True Face of William Shakespeare by Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel. London: Chaucer Press, 2006 …”, Theatre Research International [Cambridge] 32 (2007), pp. 327-328 – http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1372084 Douglas Galbi, “a Shakespearean portrait of bad public reason”, purple motes. A Journal of Whimsy and Hope (18. September 2006) – http://purplemotes.net/2006/09/18/ Jürgen Broschart, „ Das wahre Gesicht William Shakespeares “ (The true face of William Shakespeare), GEO (March 2006), pp. 180-181 Rob Edwards, “Is this the Bard I see before me?”, New Scientist (25 February 2006) - www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925404.200 A. N. Wilson, Evening Standard [London] (24 February 2006) “Images ‘show face of Shakespeare’”, BBC Radio4, Professor Hammerschmidt-Hummel interview on “Today” (23 February 2006) – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4742716.stm Rainer Schmitz, “Bilderstreit um Shakespeare“ (Fight over images of Shakespeare), Focus Online (23 February 2006) – http://www.focus.de/wissen/spurensicherung_aid_105331.html “Das wirklich wahre Antlitz William Shakespeares”(The really true face of William Shakespeare) – na – news aktuell presseportal (20 February 2006) – http://www.presseportal.de/pm/7861/788210/exklusiv-das-wirklich-wahre-antlitz-william-shakespeares Steve Connor, „Germans put a face to Shakespeare”, The Sunday Times (15 March 1998) Rod Usher, “The Bard or not the Bard. A German academic thinks she has the lowdown on Shakespeare’s looks--and his premature demise”, Time Magazine (13 May 1996) Frank Partridge, „Reuters Reports“, SKY NEWS (9 May 1996), update Roger Boyes, „Computer unmasks Bard’s cancer“, The Times (London) (24 April 1996) Colleen Connaughton, „Reuters Reports“, SKY NEWS (7 March 1996) Dietrich Schwanitz, „Shakespeares Auge.“ (Shakespeare’s eye) Die Zeit – Magazin (26 January 1996), pp. 10-14 Andrew Thompson, „Tomorrow’s World“, BBC Television (15 December 1995) Claudia Gottschling, „Das BKA fahn¬det nach Shakespeare. Neue Beweise sollen die Identität des berühmten Dichters endgültig entlarven“ (The BKA [CID/FBI] searches for Shakespeare. New evidence is ultimately to prove the identity of the famous bard), Focus (13 November 1995) – http://www.focus.de/kultur/buecher/literaturwissenschaft-das-bka-fahndet-nach-shakespeare_aid_154921.html Rob Edwards, „Was Shakespeare the man behind the mask?“, New Scientist (21 October 1995) – http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14820001.500
  7. ↑ “The Research Results of Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel as Mirrored in the Reviews and Comments of Scholars and Scientific Journalists” (2010) – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pdf_s/The%20Research%20Results%20of%20Hildegard%20Hammerschmidt-Hummel.pdf
  8. ↑ Reynolds, Nigel. “Lump above eye that ‘killed Shakespeare’”. The Telegraph, 23 Feb 2006. Accessed 22 October 2012 - www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1511251/Lump-above-eye-that-killed-Shakespeare.html
  9. ↑ “Expert Opinions on the Findings of Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel” (2010) – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/buecher/15/Expert%20Opinions,%20Part%20III%20-%20And%20the%20Flower%20portrait%20is%20Genuine%20After%20All.pdf
  10. ↑ Thomas Merriam, “A Question of Authenticity”, Religion and the Arts (Boston College) 13.1 (2009), pp. 122-135 – http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de/pdf_s/Thomas%20Merriam%20Review%20(Extract)%20%20on%20The%20True%20Face%20and%20Searching%20for%20Shakespeare.pdf

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