Wilhelm (Reginald) Friedmann
| Born: |
03-19-1884 |
| Faculty: |
Philosophical School |
| Category: |
Deprivation of academic degree |
Wilhelm (Reginald) FRIEDMANN (born on March 19th, 1884 in Vienna), studied from 1903 on in Heidelberg, Vienna and Berlin and had graduated at the Philosophical School at the University of Vienna in Romance languages and literature Studies on May 17th, 1907 with the academic degree 'Dr. phil.' (dissertation: 'Die altitalienischen Heiligenlegenden des Kodex XXXVIII. 10 de Biblioteca nazionale centrale. zu Florenz').
Wilhelm Friedmann was promoted lecturer ('Privatdozent') in Leipzig in 1910. After he had been taken prisoner by the Russians in World War I, he first returned to Vienna and was from 1920 on lecturer for Romanic Philology at the University of Leipzig. In 1929/30 he filled in a professorship at the University of Greifswald and after that returned to Leipzig, where he became ao. Prof.
Friedmann was married with Constanze (nee Glaser, born on July 14th, 1889) in first marriage and with Gertrud(e) (nee Schirm) in second marriage.
He was persecuted in times of Nazism as a Jew lost his position, his venia was cancelled in September 1933 and he was thrown out of the University of Leipzig in November 1933.
Friedmann emigrated to Paris/France in 1933 and taught Italian Phililogy at the École pratique des hautes études, besides further lectures. Additionally he wrote for the emigrant newspaper 'Die Zukunft'.
He was deprived of his academic degree from the University of Vienna on July 8th, 1940 with the racist argument, that he as a Jew was not considered dignified an academic degree of a German university ('eines akademischen Grades einer deutschen Hochschule unwürdig').
Wilhelm Friedmann commited suicide on December 11th, 1942, in Bedous/Frankreich - only one day after he had been arrested by the Gestapo.
It took 15 years since the deprivation - and a very long time since the end of Nazism - until the regranting of the doctorate took finally place on May 13th, 1955.
Lit.: information from Mag. Barbara Kintaert, Vienna, 2013; Claudine DELPHIS, Wilhelm Friedmann (1884-1942), le destin d'un francophile. Correspondance avec Georges Duhamel, Jean-Richard Bloch et Marcel Raymond, Leipzig 1999; WIKIPEDIA.
