Emil Utitz | |
|---|---|
 Emil Utitz giving a lecture inTheresienstadt, still from the 1944 propaganda filmTheresienstadt (photographer:Ivan Frič [de;fr]) | |
| Born | (1883-05-18)18 May 1883 |
| Died | 2 November 1956(1956-11-02) (aged 73) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Alma mater | Charles University |
| Thesis | Wilhelm Heinse und die Ästhetik zur Zeit der deutschen Aufklärung (1906) |
| Doctoral advisor | Christian von Ehrenfels |
| Influences | Franz Brentano |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline |
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| Sub-discipline |
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| Institutions | |
| Doctoral students | Hermann Boeschenstein |
Emil Utitz (27 May 1883 – 2 November 1956) was a Czech philosopher and psychologist of Jewish descent. He was educated in Prague, where he was a classmate ofFranz Kafka. After studies in Munich, Leipzig, and Prague, he became a professor in Rostock, and from 1925 was Chair of Philosophy at theUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg. After his forced retirement in 1933, he became a professor in Prague. In 1942, he was deported toTheresienstadt Ghetto, where he was head of the library. After the liberation of Theresienstadt in 1945, he returned to Prague. Utitz died inJena in 1956, while travelling through East Germany to give lectures.
Emil Utitz was born inRoztoky near Prague on 27 May 1883.[1] He grew up in Roztoky with his sister Flora.[2] Their parents were Gotthold Utitz (1855–1916),[2] a manufacturer of leather goods, and his wife Philippina.[3] A German-speaking Jew,[2] he was educated in Prague, first at aPiarist elementary school, then at theAltstädter Gymnasium secondary school in theKinský Palace, whereFranz Kafka was a classmate.[3] After passing hisMatura, Utitz studied at theUniversity of Munich. After starting with law in 1901, he moved on to philosophy, psychology, art history and archeology, returning to Prague to study atCharles University in 1903, whereAnton Marty was one of his teachers. In 1904, he spent one semester at theUniversity of Leipzig and took classes withWilhelm Wundt andJohannes Volkelt.[4] He defended his PhD in 1906 under the supervision ofChristian von Ehrenfels, with the thesisWilhelm Heinse und die Ästhetik zur Zeit der deutschen Aufklärung (Wilhelm Heinse and aesthetics in the German Enlightenment).[5][6] During his studies, he was member of a philosophical circle, strongly influenced byFranz Brentano, that met at theCafé Louvre [cs] and included Kafka andOskar Kraus.[7][8]
Utitz also wrote poems. HisVon des Lebens letzten Rätseln: Eine lyrische Symphonie in drei Sätzen (On Life's Final Mysteries: A Lyrical Symphony in Three Movements) appeared in 1902, and in the same year, he used the pseudonym Ernst Limé[9] to publish the collectionMeine Hochburg (My Stronghold).[10]
After his doctorate, Utitz travelled to Italy, spending time with Franz Brentano inFlorence.[11] Supported byMax Dessoir, he found a teaching position at theUniversity of Rostock in 1910 and obtained thehabilitation qualification in November 1910.[5] Afterwards, he taught at a Prague secondary school for a few years.[12] Utitz married Ottilie Schwarzkopf, the daughter of a Jewish factory owner fromSušice, in 1914.[13] They had no children.[2] In 1916, he received a titular professorship at Rostock, becoming a regular tenured professor in 1924.[14] From October 1925, Utitz held a chair of philosophy at theUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg as successor ofMax Frischeisen-Köhler [de]. Although he had converted to Protestantism,[15] he was considered Jewish in the context of the so-calledLaw for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service and was suspended in April 1933, then forced into unpaid retirement in October 1933.[5] He returned to Prague, where he first worked on theNachlass of Franz Brentano, then became the successor of Christian von Ehrenfels as Chair of Philosophy at the German University of Prague in October 1934.[5][12] He was forcibly retired in 1938 after arguments with Nazi colleagues.[5]
His PhD students includeHermann Boeschenstein (Die Aesthetik des J. P. de Crousaz, The Aesthetics ofJ. P. de Crousaz, Rostock 1924)[16][17] and Johannes Güthling (Vergleichende Untersuchungen über das Augenmaß für Strecken und Flächen, Comparative Studies of the Visual Judgement for Distance and Area, Halle 1927).[18]
Utitz's works include books on art theory, aesthetics,characterology and cultural philosophy, as well as books about Brentano andEgon Erwin Kisch.[9][19]
Utitz and his wife were deported toTheresienstadt Ghetto on 30 July 1942.[5][20] There, he became head of theGhetto Central Library [de], which opened in November 1942.[21] The library started with about 4,000 books, most of them theological or scholarly works in Hebrew or German.[22] Within a year, the collection had grown to over 48,000 volumes. When the reading room opened in June 1943, use was restricted to readers who could pay a deposit and pass an interview with Utitz or another librarian.[23]Utitz, who was one of the "prominent" prisoners given special treatment, was involved in cultural activities in Theresienstadt, for example as judge in a poetry contest in 1944.[24][25] He also gave lectures, one of which was filmed for the 1944 propaganda filmTheresienstadt.[26] The manuscript ofViktor Ullmann's operaDer Kaiser von Atlantis was saved by Utitz when Ullman was deported toAuschwitz in October 1944 and later given toH. G. Adler.[27]Utitz and his assistant,Käthe Starke-Goldschmidt [de], who preserved theTheresienstadt Papers,[28] were the only library staff to survive until the liberation of Theresienstadt in May 1945, and spent three more months in the camp to oversee the disbanding of the library, with 100,000 books returned to Prague.[29]Utitz later wrote a book about the psychology of life in Theresienstadt, which appeared in a Czech edition in 1947 and in German translation in 1948.[30]
After the liberation of Theresienstadt, he returned to Prague and was again named professor of philosophy at the university.[5] As emeritus professor, he lived inSmíchov.[2] Utitz became a member of theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1948.[31] While travelling to give lectures in East Germany, he died inJena on 2 November 1956 from a heart attack.[32]
