Presentation and discussion with Adrian-Bogdan Ceobanu (University of Iași), Senta Höfer (Journalist), and Ruth Ur (Exilmuseum).
Anna de Bagdad – even her name is a mystery. From 1904 to 1911, she was the owner of number 24 Fasanenstraße. But who was this woman who spent her life travelling between Romania, Paris and Berlin?
Her life was eventful: at the age of 16, she married a man in Romania who was over 30 years her senior. In the ensuing marital drama, she was cast out and sent to Paris, where she was forced to live without her children from then on. In Paris, she led a life among the upper classes, became involved with a marriage swindler and eventually moved to Berlin for a few years.
The search for traces of this extraordinary woman is like a crime thriller: drawing on Berlin address books, scandal reports in French newspapers, a spectacular discovery of documents in Bucharest, and research across three countries, a picture of Anna de Bagdad-Nikolits gradually emerges.
In conversation with Ruth Ur, journalist Senta Höfer and historian Bogdan Ceobanu from the University of Iași put the research findings into context and report on what we know about this enigmatic figure and where the search for clues is set to continue.
This event accompanies the exhibition Von hier aus and is also part of the Embassies of Exile programme.