Johanna Kinkel German writer, composer, choral conductor and music teacher, revolutionary. Date of Birth: 08.07.1810 Country: Germany

Biography of Johanna Kinkel

Johanna Kinkel was a German writer, composer, choir conductor, and music educator, as well as a revolutionary figure. She was born and raised in a family of a gymnasium teacher, and from a young age, she showed a great interest in music. Dorothea Schlegel introduced her to Felix Mendelssohn, who supported her passion for composition. Johanna moved to Berlin, where she continued her musical studies and gave private lessons to support her education. She performed in salons, and her compositions were admired by Robert Schumann. She became friends with Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Adelbert von Chamisso, Hegel, and his family.

In 1839, Johanna returned to Bonn, where she continued to compose music, perform concerts, and conduct choirs. Her Choral Union became one of the first choirs in Germany led by a woman. After divorcing her first husband, a musical instrument merchant named Johann Paul Matthieu, she converted to Protestantism and married the revolutionary poet Gottfried Kinkel in 1842.

During the revolutionary events of 1848 in Austria, Germany, and Italy, Johanna's husband was arrested for anti-government activities and sentenced to death. With the help of Bettina von Arnim and other acquaintances, Johanna managed to have the sentence changed to life imprisonment. After her husband escaped from Spandau Fortress and relocated to London, Johanna followed him with their four children in 1851. Her home in London became a center for German revolutionaries fleeing to England. Notable figures, such as Alexander Herzen, visited her and referred to Johanna as "one of the most remarkable German emigrants in London" (Herzen, "My Past and Thoughts," Vol. VI, Chapter 7).

Johanna gave piano lessons, conducted choirs, published two books on music education, and wrote music, poetry, prose, and articles about contemporary composers such as Chopin and Mendelssohn. Due to her overwhelming activity, worries about her husband, and family responsibilities, Johanna's bouts of depression increased. She was found dead in the courtyard near her own house. It remains unknown whether it was an accidental fall from the fourth-floor window or a voluntary departure from life. (Herzen believed it to be a suicide due to jealousy and the development of heart disease - Johanna had a heart attack in 1856). The words "Freedom, Love, and Poetry" were engraved on her gravestone.

Johanna Kinkel was known for her unique combination of dreamy sensitivity and a sober understanding of reality, which is reflected in her "Stories" ("Erzählungen," Stuttgart, 1849, 1883). Among her other literary works, there is an autobiographical novel called "Hans Ibeles in London" (Stuttgart, 1860). As a composer, she is credited with the "Vogelkantate" (op. 1, 1830), songs set to the poetry of Goethe, Chamisso, Rückert, A. von Platen, Heine, her own poetry, her husband's poetry, and other contemporary poets. She also wrote a music pedagogy work titled "Eight Letters on Piano Lessons" (Stuttgart, 1852).