Family Card - Person Sheet
NameSidonie Josepha Zerkowitz 
BurialVienna, Austria
Birth17 Feb 1852, Tovačov, Přerov District, Olomouc Region, Czech Republic
Death12 Jun 1907, Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary District, Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic
FatherDr. Gerson Zerkowitz (1808-1902)
MotherJeanette (Jeanetta) (Johanna) Knöpfelmacher (1822-1905)
Notes for Sidonie Josepha Zerkowitz
{geni:occupation} Prominent author, poet, critic and essayist
{geni:about_me} Sidonie was an Austrian authoress. Her early education she received from her father, a prominent physician. With her parents, she moved successively to Holesov, Vienna, and Budapest. In her youth, Sidonie Grunwald-Zerkowitz studied languages and literature, and became well versed in French, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, and English. When only 13 years of age, she published her first essays on literature, in the newspapers of Budapest. After studying in Budapest for two years, she passed the state exam as a professor of history and languages, particularly the Hungarian language. After teaching for a short time, she recieved (in 1874) a free scholarship from Ludwig II ofBavaria to attend his theatrical school in Munich. Her studies, however, were interrupted by her marriage to the Greek prince Theodor Kolokotronis. She joined the Greek Catholic Church and moved with him to Athens. However, bothshe and her husband were disowned by the Kolokotronis family, probably because of Sidonie's Jewish origins. After a short time, she divorced the prince and moved to Vienna. She then married Leopold Grunwald, a wealthy Vienna merchant and manufacturer, in 1877. Following his death, she started a school for languages in Vienna. She also became editor of a fashion magazine called "The Mode". She created a stir as a writer through two naturalistic and erotic works: "Gretchen today" and "Songs of a Mormon Woman". Both books were later banned in Austria.
Sidonie not only published lyric poetry, but also paedegogic articles, made translations from Hungarian of various pieces, and wrote a teaching aid to Hungarian literature. Her other writings included "Zwanzig Gedichte von KalmanToth" (1874, translated from Hungarian, published in Vienna), "Die Mode in der Frauenkleidung" (Vienna, 1889), "Achmed's Ede" (1900), "Doppel-Ehen" (1900), "Poetischer Hirt" (1901), and "Schattenseiten des Frauenstudiums" (1901).She was also the author of many songs against anti-Semitism, and was contributor to numerous newspaper articles (in particular, for the Berlin "Buhne und Welt"). Additionally, she wrote critical essays on Sarah Bernhardt, Wolter,Duse, Rejane, and Jane Harding. Sidonie was living in Karlsbad when she died at the age of 55. She is buried in Vienna. Sharing her cemetery plot is a granddaughter, Edith Grunwald (1912-1930).
Sidonie's handwritten will, dated November 1906, names her all of her surviving children: Constantin Colocotronis, Lothar Grunwald, Oliver Franz Rudiger, Haydee Kloo, and Judith.
{geni:about_me} Sidonie was an Austrian authoress. Her early education she received from her father, a prominent physician. With her parents, she moved successively to Holesov, Vienna, and Budapest. In her youth, Sidonie Grunwald-Zerkowitz studied languages and literature, and became well versed in French, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, and English. When only 13 years of age, she published her first essays on literature, in the newspapers of Budapest. After studying in Budapest for two years, she passed the state exam as a professor of history and languages, particularly the Hungarian language. After teaching for a short time, she recieved (in 1874) a free scholarship from Ludwig II ofBavaria to attend his theatrical school in Munich. Her studies, however, were interrupted by her marriage to the Greek prince Theodor Kolokotronis. She joined the Greek Catholic Church and moved with him to Athens. However, bothshe and her husband were disowned by the Kolokotronis family, probably because of Sidonie's Jewish origins. After a short time, she divorced the prince and moved to Vienna. She then married Leopold Grunwald, a wealthy Vienna merchant and manufacturer, in 1877. Following his death, she started a school for languages in Vienna. She also became editor of a fashion magazine called "The Mode". She created a stir as a writer through two naturalistic and erotic works: "Gretchen today" and "Songs of a Mormon Woman". Both books were later banned in Austria.
Sidonie not only published lyric poetry, but also paedegogic articles, made translations from Hungarian of various pieces, and wrote a teaching aid to Hungarian literature. Her other writings included "Zwanzig Gedichte von KalmanToth" (1874, translated from Hungarian, published in Vienna), "Die Mode in der Frauenkleidung" (Vienna, 1889), "Achmed's Ede" (1900), "Doppel-Ehen" (1900), "Poetischer Hirt" (1901), and "Schattenseiten des Frauenstudiums" (1901).She was also the author of many songs against anti-Semitism, and was contributor to numerous newspaper articles (in particular, for the Berlin "Buhne und Welt"). Additionally, she wrote critical essays on Sarah Bernhardt, Wolter,Duse, Rejane, and Jane Harding. Sidonie was living in Karlsbad when she died at the age of 55. She is buried in Vienna. Sharing her cemetery plot is a granddaughter, Edith Grunwald (1912-1930).
Sidonie's handwritten will, dated November 1906, names her all of her surviving children: Constantin Colocotronis, Lothar Grunwald, Oliver Franz Rudiger, Haydee Kloo, and Judith.