The Vienna-based musician and producer Stefan Frankenberger created an audiobook based on the letters from exile between Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn. The ACF was delighted to present a staged reading of these letters read by the local actors Jennifer Mendenhall and Michael Kramer.
“Lise Meitner. Born Nov. 7th 1878 in Vienna, arrived in Groningen, Holland on July 13th 1938 after my escape. After weeks of fear and trembling I now fall into the emptiness that is the arrival into a brand new life. The future holds nothing; only the past does. My dear friends helped me into freedom well-knowing it will make me unfree. From now on I am deprived of my beloved habits and amenities, yet: there was no choice… I cannot look back yet am unable to look ahead. ”
Austrian-Swedish physicist Lise Meitner is one of the most renowned women in science. Even though she received more than 40 Nobel Prize nominations, she was never awarded the prize. In 1944 Otto Hahn won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the nuclear fission of uranium, the splitting of the atom – a research project Meitner and Hahn started together. In 1938, Meitner, who was Jewish, fled Nazi Germany but still contributed to the research and the breakthrough discovery. From her exile Meitner corresponded with Hahn, thus the nuclear fission plays a major role in their letters. However, the loss of her work and friends weighed hard on her; her loneliness as well as her concern for the world in these dark times are addressed frequently in her letters, revealing an extremely sensitive, profound and eloquent person.
Photo (c) Sophie: A Digital Library of Works by German-Speaking Women (sophie.byu.edu)
When: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 | 7:00 pm
Where: Austrian Cultural Forum Washington/Embassy of Austria
3524 International Court, NW, Washington, DC 20008
ABOUT LISE MEITNER
A detailed portrait on the extraordinary life of Lise Meitner is available here: Lise Meitner (1878-1968): The Discovery of Nuclear Fission.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Photo | (c) Michael Marginter
Stefan Frankenberger |
Musician, Producer
Born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1977, Stefan has been living and working in Vienna since 1999. As a musician and producer he works on society relevant performances and produces pop music as well as theatre and film scores. After his audiobook Der unbekannte Soldat: Zum Andenken an Bertha von Suttner (engl. The Unknown Soldier) about the Austrian pacifist and novelist Bertha von Suttner, the audiobook Deine Lise - Die Physikerin Lise Meitner im Exil (engl. Yours, Lise – exile letters by Lise Meitner, Physicist) is the second project of a series which highlights women whose achievements are unquestioned, yet their names are only known by a few.
Photo | (c) Jennifer Mendenhall
Jennifer Mendenhall | Actress
Educated at the University of Virginia in French and Drama, Jennifer became a well-known Washington, DC area actress as well as audio book narrator. She has received the Helen Hayes Award and the Washington Theatre Lobby Award.
Photo | (c) Michael Kramer
Michael Kramer | Actor
Michael has narrated over 300 audiobooks, many of them by bestselling authors. In addition to his acting performances in several theatres in Washington, DC, he is currently working for the Library of Congress’s Talking Books program for the blind and physically handicapped.