Fanny von Arnstein

February 1, 2014

The noted Austrian author Spiel's 1962 biography is now translated by her daughter into English. Spiel clearly saw von Arnstein as a kindred spirit as Michael Z. Wise's introduction makes clear. This is an important book, capturing the life and times of a Jewish baroness (1758-1818) who was at one time called "the most interesting woman in Europe." The privileged daughter of the Master of the Royal Mint in Berlin, Franziska (Fanny) Itzig married a financier to the Austro-Hungarian court, becoming a Viennese salonniere during a critical period in European intellectual life. Her multinational salon paved the way for a more liberal era for European Jewry, of whose emancipation she became an influential symbol. While von Arnstein herself left no significant written work, Spiel uses the accounts of contemporaries as well as secret police reports to create not only a readable biography but also a detailed examination of the changing fortunes of Central European Jewry. The "fair Hebrew" von Arnstein moved gracefully in both Jewish and Christian worlds as she pondered the meaning of assimilation for her people. Not for casual readers, Spiel's account is interspersed with quotations in both French and German, with painstaking political and historical context provided. VERDICT This work is recommended for sophisticated readers interested in Jewish history and comfortable navigating the complexities of European politics during the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.--Marie M. Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ

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