Mary Saran

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Mary Saran
Born
Maria Martha Saran

13 July 1897
Cranz, East Prussia, Germany
Died16 February 1976(1976-02-16) (aged 78)
London, England
Other namesM. Jensen
Maria Hodann
Mary Flanders
Occupations
  • Political activist
  • Author
  • Journalist
Spouse(s)Max Hodann
Allan Flanders
ParentRichard Saran

Maria Martha Saran (13 July 1897 – 16 February 1976), known as Mary Saran, was a journalist and author. In 1933 she emigrated from her native Germany to England, where she took British nationality and where she lived for the rest of her life.[1]

Mary Saran also wrote under the pseudonym M. Jensen. In addition, she was twice, albeit on the second occasion only briefly, married, and she therefore may appear in sources as Maria Hodann or Mary Flanders.

Life

Provenance and early years

Maria Saran was born in Cranz, a small seaside town in what was then East Prussia. She was the seventh of ten recorded children born to the busy architect Richard Saran and his wife.[2] On her mother's side Maria was a niece of the diplomat Johannes Kriege, and thereby a first cousin of the lawyer Walter Kriege and a remoter kinswoman of the early socialist Hermann Kriege.[1][2] Much of her father's architectural work was undertaken as a result of his employment as a "Regierungs- und Baurat", a government appointment. The family lived a short distance to the west of Königsberg while his children were young, but in 1901 they relocated to Wiesbaden in connection with Richard Saran's work. They moved again, this time to Berlin, in 1906.

She embarked on a course in Medicine, studying at

Venereal diseases, entitled "Die sozialhygienische Bedeutung der Beratungsstellen für Geschlechtskranke". The marriage would end in divorce on 13 July 1926,[4] by which time the couple's daughter, Renate, had been born, and left-wing politics had replaced medicine as the other focus of Maria's life.[5]

Politics

As

Nazi takeover in Germany) in 1932.[7]

During the early months of 1933, the Hitler government lost little time in creating a post-democratic German state. Emergency powers opened the way for attacks against, and mass arrests of, high-profile left-wing activists, Jews, and others identified by government as enemies. Maria Saran escaped with her twelve-year-old daughter Renate (Rene), initially to France and, for some months, Denmark.[8] By the end of 1933 they had arrived as refugees in England,[5] living in a "communal household" with fellow socialists.[5][9]

In Britain[10] she worked with in the Socialist Vanguard Group (SVG),[11] which was effectively the British branch of the ISK.[12] In 1941 she became editor of the group's monthly publication, retaining the editorship (latterly jointly with Rita Hinden) until 1955.[13] During the 1930s she had obtained British citizenship, in 1935/36[14][15] briefly marrying a fellow socialist, Allan Flanders,[9] in support of her citizenship application.[16] War ended in defeat for the Nazi régime in May 1945. Many of the socialist refugees from Nazism, who had lived in England since the 1930s now returned to Germany, including Minna Specht with whom Saran had at times worked closely in London. Mary Saran stayed on in England, working as a freelance journalist, contributing particularly (but not exclusively) to socialist and women's publications.[3] Till 1947 she was the editor for "Europe speaks" in succession to Willi Eichler who had also returned to Germany.[17] She also worked with the UNESCO, focusing on women's issues.[3] She continued to play an active part in British Labour Party politics and in adult education. From 1974 she taught in a London school.[3] Her memoir appeared in 1976 under the title "Never give up".[18] 1976 was also the year in which she died. Her English language memoir was translated by her friend, the historian Susanne Miller, and published privately in Germany under the title "Gib niemals auf. Erinnerungen" in 1979.[19]

Selected bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-85496-257-0
    .
  2. ^ a b c Kulenkampff'sche Familienstiftung (Hg.), Stammtafeln der Familie Kulenkampff, Bremen: Verlag B.C. Heye & Co 1959, Linie John Daniel Meier, J.D.M., pp. 47–50.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-3-11-094025-1. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help); |work= ignored (help
    )
  4. ISBN 978-3-593-39049-9. {{cite book}}: |author2= has generic name (help); |work= ignored (help
    )
  5. ^ a b c d Kay Herrmann (as interviewer); Rene Saran (as interviewee) (2008). "Kay Herrmann in Conversation with Rene Saran". Kant-Friesian School (Kelley L. Ross, PhD (Administrator / Editor). Retrieved 7 October 2015. {{cite web}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ "Leonard Nelson (1882–1927)". Kant-Friesian School (Kelley L. Ross, PhD (Administrator / Editor). 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  7. ISBN 978-3-8309-3193-5. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )    L
  8. ^ Birgit S. Nielsen (1985). Erziehung zum Selbstvertrauen. Ein sozialistischer Schulversuch im dänischen Exil 1933–1938. Peter Hammer Verlag, Wuppertal. pp. 45–52, 166f. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-415-87848-7. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  10. ^ Susanne Miller. "So würde ich noch einmal leben". Erinnerungen, aufgezeichnet von Antje Dertinger. Dietz 2005, Bonn. pp. 71–87, 97.
  11. ^ Thomas Tretzmüller (4 January 2001). "Mary Saran". Sozialistische Europapläne während des 2. Weltkriegs am Beispiel des Internationalen Sozialistischen Kampf-Bundes und der Socialist Vanguard Group. Institut für Geschichte der Universität Wien. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  12. ^ Mark Minion. "The Labour Party and Europe during the 1940s: the strange case of the Socialist Vanguard Group" (PDF). London South Bank University. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Records of'Socialist Vanguard', Socialist Commentary Publications Limited and Friends of 'Socialist Commentary' 1934–1981" (PDF). Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. p. 1. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Index entry Maria Saran". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Index entry Allan D Flanders". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  16. ^ Irene Messinger (adapted and translated from the German by Anthony Grenville) (November 2014). "Marriages of convenience as a survival strategy". Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR), Stanmore, England. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Germany To-Day: This article is based on a speech recently made in London by Willi Eichler, editor of the "Rheinische Zeitung", and executive member of the Social Democratic Party" (PDF). International Publishing Co. 7 Carteret St. London, S.W.I. Bibliothek der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. 20 August 1946. p. 1. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  18. ISBN 978-0-85496-257-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  19. ^ Mary Saran (author); Susanne Miller (Uebersetzung) (1979). Gib niemals auf. Erinnerungen. S. Eichler, Selbstverlag, Bonn. {{cite book}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
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