Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert

Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert (31 January/ 12 February 1883 Starodub-17 January 1963 West Berlin) was a German-Russian translator, publisher and gallery owner. She is particularly noted for her work as a translator of Leon Trotsky.

Youth

Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert was the fifth of nine children of an Orthodox Jewish family living in Starodub, approximately 400 kilometers southwest of Moscow. Her father, Gilel, was a business man while Serafima, her mother was a housewife. Starodub belonged to the Pale of Settlement for Jews who lived there almost in complete isolation from the rest of the population. After her older siblings rebelled against the religiously conservative attitude of the Father, it was possible for Alexandra to attend the local girls' high school. At the age of 18, after graduation, she left home.

In Berlin

Advert for Aktions-Buch-und-Kunsthandlung the bookshop she ran

After moving to Berlin she was active in the local leftist circles and after her marriage to Franz Pfemfert in 1911 they both got involved with Herwarth Walden Expressionist journal Der Sturm. She worked with Franz when he launched Die Aktion later that year. Her sister, Maria Ramm, married Die Aktion contributor Carl Einstein in 1913.^[1] From 1917, Alexandra ran theAktions-Buch-und-Kunsthandlung ("Aktion's book and art dealers"), based in Kaiserallee 222 (today Bundesallee) in Berlin-Wilmersdorf.

Works

• 'Zur proletarischen Kultur', Die Aktion, 10 No. 35/36, 4 September 1920

References