what's in a name? the Wiesengrund' in 'Wiesengrund-Adorno'

[gelder@em.uni-frankfurt.de]

Why did Adorno drop the 'Wiesengrund'?

There's a letter - unpublished - in the Adorno archive in which he
gives his reasons. Two seem to have been decisive: (a) a degree of
arm-twisting by the Naturalisation Authorities; ('no outlandish
names on American passports'?)  (b) the 'Wiesengrund' is more or
less unpronouncible for Anglo-Saxon tongues.

regards




> From: Russell Jacoby <rjacoby@ucla.edu>
> Subject: Adorno--Name
> 
> Query: Adorno dropped the Wiesengrund in California, yes? Do we know why?
> Was it to reduce the German profile, his and that of others?  Explanations
> and references would be much appreciated.
> 
> Russell Jacoby
> rjacoby@ucla.edu
> 
 
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Frederik van Gelder
Institut fuer Sozialforschung
Frankfurt University
Senckenberganlage 26
60325 Frankfurt am Main

Gelder@em.uni-frankfurt.de
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