View source for Hanna Fuchs-Robettin

{{short description|Austro-Hungarian mistress of Alban Berg}}
'''Hanna Fuchs-Robettin''' (1896–1964) (née Werfel) was the sister of [[Franz Werfel]], wife of Herbert Fuchs-Robettin, and mistress of [[Alban Berg]]. Berg secretly and cryptically dedicated his ''[[Lyric Suite (Berg)|Lyric Suite]]'' to her.

==Early life==
Born in [[Prague]] (then part of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]]), Hanna was the second of three children of Rudolf Werfel, a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. Her mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner. Her brother Franz was born in 1890 and her sister Marianne Amalie was born in 1899.<ref name=Wagener>Hans Wagener. ''Understanding Franz Werfel.'' (University of South Carolina, 1993) {{ISBN|0-87249-883-2}}, p. 2.</ref> Her father's ancestors were German-Bohemian Jews, including a great grandfather who had served in [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]]'s [[French invasion of Russia|Russian campaign]] as a courier. Her grandfather had come to Prague where he made and lost a fortune. His son (Hanna's father) rebuilt the family wealth. Hanna grew up in a stylish house on Marienstrasse in the New Town where the children were nurtured by a Czech Catholic woman named Babi<!--NB: Wagener indeed says this was her *name*, but "Babi" in Czech means "granny".-->. Babi would take the children with her to church and the family made regular attendance at the [[Maisel Synagogue]]. The Werfels were assimilated Jews with a strong interest in music and theatre, which they attended often.<ref name="Wagener"/>

==Adulthood==
Hanna married Herbert Fuchs-Robettin and had two children: Munzo (born about 1917) and Dorothea (known as Dodo). Hanna was known by the nickname Mopinka.<ref name=Coleman>Alexander Coleman. ''Diversions & Animadversions: Essays from the New Criterion.'' (Edison, New Jersey: Transaction, 2005) {{ISBN|0-7658-0305-4}}.</ref> Her husband was a Prague industrialist with a great enthusiasm for music.

In May 1925 Hanna began an affair with a friend of her husband, the Austrian composer [[Alban Berg]].<ref name="Coleman"/> Over the next year Berg wrote his ''Lyric Suite'', which used a combination of his initials and those of Hanna (HF) as well as a melodic quote from [[Alexander von Zemlinsky]]'s ''Lyric Symphony'', which originally set the words "You are mine own".<ref name=Bozzetti>Elmar Bozzetti. ''"... Ein kleines Denkmal... einer grossen Liebe": Alban Bergs Lyrische Suite''. In: ''Musik und Bildung'' 21 (1989), pp. 29-36.</ref> He gave an annotated copy of the score to Hanna, who bequeathed it to her daughter Dorothea. This score is now in the [[Austrian National Library]].<ref name=Scholz>Gottfried Scholz. ''More on Secret Programs in Berg's Instrumental Music.'' In: Siglind Bruhn. ''Encrypted Messages in Alban Berg's Music.'' (London: Routledge, 1998) {{ISBN|0-8153-2480-4}}.</ref> The annotation reads in part:
:''"It has also, my Hanna, allowed me other freedoms! For example, that of secretly inserting our initials, HF and AB, into the music, and relating every movement and every section of every movement to our numbers, 10 and 23. I have written these, and much that has other meanings, into the score for you. ... May it be a small monument to a great love."''<ref name=Cross>Jonathan Cross. ''Composing with numbers: sets, rows, and magic squares.'' In: John Fauvel, [[Raymond Flood (mathematician)|Raymond Flood]], [[Robin Wilson (mathematician)|Robin J. Wilson]]. ''Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals.'' (Oxford University, 2003) {{ISBN|0-19-929893-9}}.</ref>

In 1976 fourteen of Berg's letters to Hanna were discovered in her papers. Some had been carried between them by [[Theodor Adorno]]<ref name=Adorno>Theodor W. Adorno. (Translated by Christopher Hailey & Juliane Brand). ''Alban Berg.'' (Cambridge University, 1991) {{ISBN|0-521-33884-0}}.</ref> and by [[Alma Mahler-Werfel]].<ref name=Floros>{{cite book |last=Floros |first=Constantin |year=2007 |title=Alban Berg and Hanna Fuchs: The Story of a Love in Letters |publisher=Indiana University |isbn=978-0-253-34966-8 |others=Translated by Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch }}</ref>

Berg died in 1935. Hanna and Herbert fled Prague to escape Nazi persecution as Jews and moved to [[New York City]].<ref name="Floros"/> Her husband died in 1949 aged 63. She survived him by nearly 15 years.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.freebase.com/view/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000a181fc9 Photographic portrait of Hanna on Freebase] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324144130/http://www.freebase.com/view/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000a181fc9 |date=2010-03-24 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Hanna}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Czech people]]
[[Category:Czech Jews]]
[[Category:People from Prague]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States]]