Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a Jewish German physician and sexologist, whose citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi Government
Magnus Hirschfeld | |
|---|---|
Hirschfeld in 1932 | |
| Born | 14 May 1868 |
| Died | 14 May 1935 (aged 67) Nice, France |
| Resting place | Body cremated; ashes interred in Caucade Cemetery in Nice |
| Citizenship | German (revoked by the Nazis) |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Known for | Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, Scientific Humanitarian Committee, World League for Sexual Reform |
| Partners | |
Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and World League for Sexual Reform. He based his practice in Berlin-Charlottenburg during the Weimar period. Historian Dustin Goltz characterized the committee as having carried out "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights". He is regarded as one of the most influential sexologists of the twentieth century.
Hirschfeld was targeted by early fascists and, later, Nazis for being Jewish and gay; he was beaten by völkisch activists in 1920, and in 1933 his Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was looted and had its books burned by Nazis. He was forced into exile in France, where he died in 1935.