Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, the eminent German Jewish authority on sexual problems and pioneer advocate of sexual reform, died late last night in Nice, France, at the age of 67.
Dr. Hirschfeld had been living in France as an exile since the Nazis came into power in Germany. He was compelled to flee from Germany after the Institute of Sexual Reform in Berlin, which he organized in 1918 and which was later taken over by the Prussian government and renamed the Magnus Hirschfeld Institute, was raided and destroyed by the Nazis. The Nazis also banned Hirschfeld’s scientific books and burned them in a public bonfire.
DEVOTED LIFE TO SPECIALTY
Dr. Hirschfeld was born May 14, 1868, in Kolberg an der Ostsee. He studied in the Universities of Strassburg, Munich, Berlin, Heidelberg, and Wuerzberg and devoted his life to study of sexual problems. He was often called in Germany as an expert witness in famous trials, including one which involved personages in the immediate entourage of the ex-Kaiser. To the Nazis his name was poison.
Himself a Jew, Dr. Hirschfeld maintained that the Jewish idea of the family has been a tremendous influence for good in modern life, since it emphasizes the creation of normal family relations. Father, mother and child—that is the most important entity in the world, was the basis of his theory. He maintained that this brings human satisfaction, ethically, biologically and physically.
Dr. Hirschfeld visited America several years ago. During his visit he urged that Jewish religious leaders should make “some compromise” in relation to the question of birth control. He is the author of many works which are considered standard books on sex analysis and sex psychology.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
