Dora Herxheimer
Dora Herxheimer with married name Heidrich (4 August 1884 - 2 July 1967) was a British swimmer and artist.[1]
Dora Herxheimer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 August 1884 London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 2 July 1967 (aged 82) New York, United States |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | swimmer, artist |
Swimming
Herxheimer started swimming when she was around 10 years old in 1894 during a family vacation in St Leonards-on-Sea. She was in 1906 trained by Maurice Richard at the Solférino baths. On 15 July 1906 she took part in the second edition of the Traversée de Paris à la nage, a main open water swimming competition in Paris. After many test, she had to swim for instance six kilometre in a swimming pool, her participation was accepted. She finished 10th in a time of 4 hours and 58 miutes. She swam the entire race in breaststroke.[1]
Art
Herxheimer studied art as a pupil of the German arrist Georg Lührig, probably serving as a model for his work Âge et Jeunesse. In 1906 she joined the courses of the sculptor Jacques Marqueste in Paris. She owned a studio in the 14th arrondissement of Paris at Rue Campagne-Première. She was specialized in sculpture of busts, animal art and female portraits. In August, she became a pupil of Auguste Rodin and meets her secretary, the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Between 1906 and 1913 she maintained a correspondence with Rainer Maria Rilke.[1]
Personal life
Herxheimer was born in London in 1884. She moved in 1901 to Saxony in Germany and from 1905 to Berlin, Paris, Freudenstadt in the Black Forest and Czechoslovakia. She later moved to London and moved to New York in 1954.[1]
Her father Gotthold Herxheimer (1838-1896) was a businessman and her mother was Jaffe Auguste (1853-1937). She had a sister Ella Pauline Herxheimer and a brother Walter. She married in 1911 to an Austrian agent Rudolf Heidrich. She had a daughter in 1919 named Dorethea. As a Jewish person, she had had to wear the yellow star during World War II.[1]