The Hungarian Pocahontas: The Life and Times of Laura Polanyi Stricker, 1882-1959

This book sheds light on the life of the intellectual refugee Laura Polanyi Stricker, whose contributions to the progressive counterculture and women's movement of turn-of-the-century Austria-Hungary have remained unexplored. Stricker, the elder sister of Karl and Michael Polanyi, was a pioneering feminist and educator as well as a historian whose work on Captain John Smith earned her the epithet of the title. The book explores the family's history during a little-known period of Central European history in light of narratives of women's emancipation and Jewish assimilation. Szapor discusses patterns and networks of immigration and the experience of women refugees. By incorporating previously unexplored public and family archives, along with extensive interviews, Szapor brings to the forefront the volatility of early-twentieth-century Hungary, the political and artistic ferment of Vienna and Weimar Berlin, and the Polanyis' flight from Hitler.