Elsa Fraenkel

Name changes

Name at birth - Betty Elisabeth. Called "Else" by the family

Artist name in Hanover and Paris  - Else Fraenkel

Artist Name in England - listed as Else Fraenkel in Leicester Galleries catalogue 1936; Listed as Elsa Fraenkel in The Times announcement of Stafford Gallery exhibition (January 6, 1940). Advised by her artist circles to change the spelling. But remained as Else officially.

Naturalization certificate in England - August 1947 - listed and signed as Else Fraenkel.

The British Central National Registration Office - Name changed to Elizabeth Dane in October 1947.

Identity theft

During World War II (in the early forties), Elsa Fraenkel complained often about being followed when she moved about London. Her children did not take her seriously at that time. Sometimes, when her daughter was with her, she would suddenly grab her arm and drag her with her into some doorway, saying that they were being followed.

Elsa Fraenkel's close friend was the artist, Olivia Fabri, whose second husband, Richard Parker, was a senior official in the Home Ministry. After the war he told them that there had been a German Spy who resembled her (also red-haired) who had been under surveillance by British Security. They were relieved to hear this account. It meant that these incidents had, indeed, occurred and were not a figment of Elsa Fraenkel's imagination. The after effects of this occurrence certainly had its effect on all their lives.

Kurt Schwitters

Elsa was part of Schwitters' circle in Hannover in the 1920s and met through Dadaist social circles. However her art was not influenced by the Dadaist movement. She maintained correspondence with him when they were both in England in the 1940s. She also owned two collages by Schwitters; one was personally gifted to Elsa by him and this collage was bought by the Ben Uri in 2019.

Sylvia Pankhurst

Elsa Fraenkel became friends with Sylvia Pankhurst during the post-war period. Sylvia Pankhurst was a well known campaigner for the  suffrage and suffragette movement in England. They met for the first time in 1950 when Fraenkel herself became interested in Ethiopia, the country with which Pankhurst was involved at the time. By 1950, the former was helping to organize cultural events featuring the African nation in London and contributed some of her own work to the celebration that was held in London when the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital was dedicated.

Before Sylvia Pankhurst went to live in Ethiopia in 1956, she left her paintings and sketches with  Elsa Fraenkel. When Pankhurst had moved to Ethiopia, Fraenkel contacted her with the aim of creating an exhibition of her work during her time with the Women's Social & Political Union (WSPU). Pankhurst was unable to help her, having left behind much of the work she had created at the turn of the century, but was able to give her information on the time and send her photographs of a WSPU fete in the Princes Skating Rink. The exhibition of work, which was eventually arranged by Fraenkel and Lady Winstedt, took place at the French Institute on December 5, 1959, sponsored by the Suffragette Fellowship, the Women's Freedom league and the Royal India, Pakistan and Ceylon Society. Fraenkel also wrote an (undated) article on 'Sylvia Pankhurst : student days' which was based on notes supplied by Sylvia. After Pankhurst's death in 1960, Elsa offered a portrait of her to the National Portrait Gallery, which was declined as they already had one.

The archives of the correspondence between Elsa Fraenkel and Sylvia Pankhurst are filed in the Women's Library, London School of Economics and Political Science and includes, photocopies of letters sent to Fraenkel by Pankhurst mainly concerned with an exhibition of the latter's paintings which Elsa organised and which was held in London in 1959. The archive also includes a pastel drawing of Pankhurst by Fraenkel (c.1957).

Copyright © 2019. Estate of Elsa Fraenkel. All Rights Reserved.