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Lela Davičo

1856–1950
No photo
Pseudonyms Alma, Kolomba
Spouse Miksan Šomođi, Hajim Davičo
Other names Adel Gold
Date of birth May 03, 1856
Date of death 1950
Web address

Personal situation

On May 3, 1850 or 1856, Lela was born as Adele, in Pest, to Joseph (1830-?) and Babette Betti (1830-1907) Gold, née Kohn. Her father was a merchant. She was the eldest of her siblings, Anna (1857-?) and Gyula (1860-?), after an early death of her sister Mathilde (1854-1855).

On June 25, 1872, Lela got married in Pest to lawyer Miksane Somogyi (1842-1926). They had three children: daughters Malvina (1873-?) and Hedvig (1874-?), and son Imre (1876-?).

On December 31, 1886, she divorced her first husband.

On March 24, 1887, Lela got married to Hajim S. Davičo (1854-1918) in Budapest.

For a short period of time, somewhere between 1888 and 1889, she lives in Rome, where her husband works as a secretary of delegation, only to move back again to Budapest.

From 1892 to 1897, she lives in Belgrade.

From 1897 to 1900, she lives in Trieste, where her husband works as a general consul.

From 1903 to 1914, she lives in Munich, where her husband at first works as a consul, and later as a trade representative. During her stay in Munich, she kept correspondence with distinguished people of her time such as Vladan Đorđević, Ricarda Huch, Ermanno Ceconi and Michael Georg Conrad. She also used to know Oscar Schmitz, who even mentions her in his diaries.

Around 1915, for a short period of time she lived in Berlin, where her husband worked as a Serbian trade representative.

Since 1915, Lela lives in Geneva.

In 1918, she was widowed, after her husband had passed away.

In 1940, Lela was still alive, according to a text published in ''Herald''.

A precise year of her decease is unknown.

Place of birth Pešta
Place(s) of residence Austria, Germany, Italy, Serbia, and Switzerland
First language(s) German and Serbian
Marital status Divorced and widowed
Number of children 3
Name(s) of children Malvina, Hedvig, Imre
Gender of children F (2) M (1)
Social class Upper class
Education Other
Religion Jewish

Professional situation

Until 1887, she worked for the Budapest Daily Newspaper (German: Budapester Tagblatt), where she published her texts under the pseudonym Alma.

In 1887, she publishes a play "Balska noć" ("The Night of the Ball") in the magazine Otadžbina (Homeland).

In 1892, she takes part in forming the first Serbian Community for Literature and Art. At its meetings, like many other members, she reads her texts.

In 1893, she publishes a text in Smiljevac, named "Dva ženska portreta" ("Two Female Portraits"), which consists of two parts named "Čuvena lepotica" ("The Famous Beauty") and "Nepoznata žena" ("The Unknown Woman"). In 1894, in the same periodical, she published a story called "Pesnik i žena" ("A Poet and a Woman").

In 1903, she publishes three literary texts in the magazine Brankovo kolo (Branko's Kolo), named "Navika" ("The Habit"), "Sfinga" ("The Sphinx"), "Jedna ljubavna noć: skica sa primorja" ("A Love Night: A Sketch from the Seaside"). That same year, but in the magazine Nova iskra (New Spark), she publishes the text "Velika sreća: domaća slika" ("Great Happiness: A Family Picture").

Since 1903, the most fruitful period of the author’s career begins, although she writes almost exclusively in German and publishes in German periodicals. She writes an essay published as a short monography Die Tugendhaften (Virtuous Ones), as well as numerous short plays, narrative works and texts from the domain of literary criticism.

In 1908, she publishes a text called "Srpske žene" (Serbian Women) in the magazine Domaćica (The Housewife), which was previously published in German.

Research done by Biljana Skopljak.

Profession(s) and other activities contributor to periodical press, playwright, and fiction writer/novelist
Language(s) in which she wrote German and Serbian
Financial aspects of her career Stipend/allowance/pension and Salary
Memberships Other

Authors read by this author

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