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Henriette Davidis | |
|---|---|
 Davidis, c. 1860 | |
| Born | Johanna Friederika Henriette Katharina Davidis 1 March 1801 |
| Died | 3 April 1876 (aged 75) Dortmund, North Rhine-Westfalia |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Cookbook author |
Johanna Friederika Henriette Katharina Davidis[1] (1 March 1801[2] in Wengern – 3 April 1876 in Dortmund) was a German cookbook writer. Although many similar cookbooks had been published by then, amongst others Sophie Wilhelmine Scheibler's Allgemeines deutsches Kochbuch für bürgerliche Haushaltungen in several editions, Davidis' Praktisches Kochbuch (Practical Cookbook) became the reference cookbook of the late 19th and early 20th century, a standard in German households. The large number of second-hand copies still available, frequently heavily annotated, are proof that the books were in much use. In many families Praktisches Kochbuch was handed down through the generations.
However the cookbook was only one facet of the extensive educational program Davidis devised for young women. Starting with the Puppenköchin (Dolls' Cook) for very young girls on to young unmarried women, and finally housewives responsible for their own household and servants, Davidis' books offered advice and information. This was rooted in the conviction that being a housewife was a demanding activity in its own right for which young women of the middle class emerging at the time were frequently ill-prepared.
While authoring her books Davidis first worked as a home economist, teacher, and governess, but later on concentrated exclusively on writing. Although her books, in particular Praktisches Kochbuch which had reached its 21st edition when she died, were hugely successful even during her lifetime, she had to live very modestly and only at the age of 74 years was able to afford her own flat. Occasionally sources claim "Henriette Davidis" to be the pseudonym used by a certain Helena Clemen. However Helena Clemen was one of Davidis' readers who had sent in suggestions which the author used in her writings.[3]
Today the Henriette-Davidis-Museum in Wetter-Wengern keeps her memory alive with cookbook exhibitions and a monograph series. Parts of a stone-built stove from the Wengern vicary together with a memorial plaque were bricked in the local railway bridge abutments, completed in 1934 and for which the vicary had to be demolished.[4] Due to her huge influence on German food culture and household management she is generally considered to be the German equivalent to Mrs Beeton. The first edition of her classic cookbook Praktisches Kochbuch für die gewöhnliche und feinere Küche was published in 1844 and there were at least seventy-six editions published by 1963.
- ^ [1], Karin Hockamp: "Das Leben der glücklichen Gattin und Hausfrau ist eine stete Selbstverleugnung" – Henriette Davidis und das Frauenleben im 19. Jahrhundert. Stadtarchiv Sprockhövel, June 2006, retrieved 29 December 2012 (PDF; 155 kB).
- ^ 1800, the year on the gravestone is wrong, Methler, Methler: Biography ... p22
- ^ In 1886, an entry was added to roll 68 of the Leipzig city council claiming Helena Clemen as author of the 23rd and 24th posthumous editions of Praktisches Kochbuch. The truth is that those editions had been prepared by Borchling and von Otterbruch. See Methler, Methler: Biographie ... p31
- ^ Harald Vogelsang: Das Bw Bochum-Dahlhausen und die Eisenbahn im mittleren Ruhrtal. Eisenbahn-Kurier-Verlag, ISBN 3-88255-430-4, p.132. Walter Petersen: Vor großen Zeitgenossen. Verlag Karl Siegismund, Berlin 1937, p.14.