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Emil Weilshäuser

Emil Weilshäuser
A vintage black-and-white profile photograph of a bearded man in formal attire, viewed from the side.
Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Born(1827-07-31)31 July 1827
Oppeln, Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia
DiedUnknown
Other names
  • Emil Weilshauser
  • Emil Weilshaeuser
Occupation(s)Publisher, writer, translator, activist
Known forVegetarianism activism
Notable work
  • Familienbibliothek: Gesundheit, Wohlstand, und Gluck
  • Vegetarisches Kochbuch (1871)

Emil Weilshäuser[note 1] (31 July 1827 – unknown) was a German publisher, writer, translator, and lebensreformer ("life reformer") who advocated for vegetarianism. He was a leading figure in the early German vegetarianism movement and published and translated a number of English-language works on vegetarianism into German. He also authored several works on the subject, including a vegetarian cookbook, which went through several editions. Weilshäuser served as President of the Vegetarian Society of Germany from 1882 to 1885 and was a member of the British Vegetarian Society and Victoria Street and International Anti-Vivisection Society.

Life and work

Emil Weilshäuser was born in Oppeln, Silesia, on 31 July 1827, as the sixth child in a family where his father was a printer. Educated at the local gymnasium, he learned printing in his father's office. His eldest brother, Gustave, a lifelong vegetarian who died in 1890, was a strong influence.[1]: 484 

Weilshäuser became a vegetarian himself after a butchered calf fixed their dying gaze on him.[2] In May 1844, his brother lent him Wilhelm Zimmerman's Der Weg zum Paradies ("The Way to Paradise"), which solidified his commitment to vegetarianism. Despite early opposition from his father, reading Gustav Struve's Mandaras' Wanderungen ("The Wanderings of Mandaras") and Jean-Antoine Gleizes's Thalysie further reinforced his beliefs. Weilshäuser translated Thalysie into German but struggled to find a publisher.

In 1850, Weilshaeuser emigrated to Texas with fellow Silesians but returned the following year due to the challenges of maintaining his vegetarianism. From 1855 to 1862, he ran a printing office in Neustadt, Silesia. After several failed business attempts, he retired with a modest income, realizing his true talent did not lie in business.[1]: 484 

Cover of the 11th edition of Weilshäuser's Illustriertes Vegetarisches Kochbuch (1910)

Weilshäuser published several influential works in the German vegetarian movement between 1855 and 1861.[3][4] His most notable work was the twelve-volume Familienbibliothek: Gesundheit, Wohlstand, und Gluck ("Family Library: Health, Wealth, and Happiness") containing translations of major treatises on vegetarianism and hygiene by prominent authors such as O. S. Fowler, Lydia Fowler, R. G. Gammage, Sylvester Graham, William Horsell, F. R. Lees, T. L. Nichols, A. Nicholson, James Scholefield, John Smith, Laroy Sunderland, and F. Towgood.[5]

The first use of the German word for vegetarianism ("vegetarianismus") in a book is attributed to an 1855 work published by Weilshäuser, Was ist Vegetarianismus?,[6] a translation of William Horsell's What is Vegetarianism?.[7] An appendix, published in 1856, contained recipes from Vegetable Cookery by the English cookbook writer Martha Brotherton.[8] In 1871, Weilshäuser authored a vegetarian cookbook, containing an extensive collection of recipes.[9] It went through several editions, with later ones containing illustrations.[8][10] In 1886, he authored a book arguing for vegetarianism from a scientific perspective, Wissenschaftliche Zeugnisse zu Gunsten der vegetarianischen Lebensweise ("Scientific evidence in favor of the vegetarian lifestyle").[11]

Weilshäuser became a member of the British Vegetarian Society in October 1852, with his declaration signed by James Simpson,[1] serving as a Foreign Corresponding Secretary.[12][13] Weilshäuser was also an Honorary Corresponding Member of the Victoria Street and International Anti-Vivisection Society (later the National Anti-Vivisection Society).[14] In 1870, Weilshäuser published a pamphlet, translated from English, which criticized vivisection.[15]

In 1868, he brought the debate in England and America about allowing women to be doctors to the wider public in Germany,[16] with his paper "Weibliche Ärzte fü Frauen" ("Female Doctors for Women"). In his speech, he quoted English physician Dr. James Edmunds at the opening of the Female Medical Society in London, predicting the reaction of German opponents to women studying medicine: "Although fulfilling our desire would honor the insight of highly civilized nations, as with any new reform, the voices of opponents can multiply from the toad pond of old prejudices.".[17]

Weilshäuser later returned to Oppeln.[18] He attended the inaugural meeting of the Vegetarian Society of Germany in May 1869.[18] In January 1882, he was elected its president,[19] following the death of Eduard Baltzer, and remained in the post for three years.[1]: 484 

In 1876, Emil Weilshäuser, along with others, including Theodor Hahn, co-published Der Vegetarianer: Zeitschrift für naturgemäße Nähr- und Lebensweise ("The Vegetarians: Newspaper for a Natural Way of Eating and Living"), a German-language periodical dedicated to the promotion of vegetarianism and natural living. The magazine, which ran from May 1876 to December 1877, was one of the earliest publications of its kind, offering readers 12 issues per year that explored topics related to natural nutrition, lifestyle, and the ethical considerations of a vegetarian diet. Published in both St. Gallen, Switzerland, and Berlin, Germany.[1]: 340 

In 1888, Weilshäuser wrote to the British Vegetarian Society, congratulating them on reaching their 41st anniversary.[1]: 416  In 1907, he again wrote to them, commending them on reaching their diamond jubilee.[20]

The date of Weilshäuser's death is unknown.[21]

Selected publications

Notes

  1. ^ His surname has variously been spelled as Weilshauser or Weilshaeuser.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Aoyagi, Akiko; Shurtleff, William (2022-03-07). History of Vegetarianism and Veganism Worldwide (1430 BCE to 1969): Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook. Soyinfo Center. ISBN 978-1-948436-73-1.
  2. ^ Russell, Rollo (1905). Strength and Diet: A Practical Treatise With Special Regard to the Life of Nations. London; New York: Longmans, Green & Co. p. 338.
  3. ^ Merta, Sabine (2008). "Das magisch anziehende Dreieck: Naturheilbewegung, Vegetarismus, Lebensreform" (PDF). Schlank! - Ein Körperkult der Moderne [Slim! - A body cult of the modern age] (in German). Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 42. ISBN 978-3-515-09615-7.
  4. ^ Puskar-Pasewicz, Margaret (2010-09-16). Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-0-313-37557-6.
  5. ^ Axon, William E. A. (December 1893). "The Literature of Vegetarianism" (PDF). Good Health: 357 – via Adventist Archives.
  6. ^ Koeder, Christian (2022-08-30) [2022-08-27]. "First use of the German words 'Vegetarier' and 'vegetarisch'". Christian Koeder. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  7. ^ Pack, Birgit (2020-04-07). "Vegetarisch digital in der British Library" [Vegetarian digital in the British Library]. Vegetarisch in Wien um 1900 (in German). Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  8. ^ a b Treitel, Corinna (2017-04-27). Eating Nature in Modern Germany: Food, Agriculture and Environment, c.1870 to 2000 (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316946312.003. ISBN 978-1-316-94631-2.
  9. ^ Pack, Birgit (2019-06-08). "Das erste vegetarische Kochbuch" [The first vegetarian cookbook]. Vegetarisch in Wien um 1900 (in German). Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  10. ^ "Küchenlexikon: Illustriertes vegetarisches Kochbuch" [Kitchen Lexicon: Illustrated Vegetarian Cookbook]. Praktisches Kochbuch (in German). Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  11. ^ Albu, Albert (1902). "Litteratur". Die vegetarische Diät: Kritik ihrer Anwendung für Gesunde und Kranke [The Vegetarian Diet: Criticism of its Application to Healthy and Sick People] (in German). Leipzig: Georg Thieme.
  12. ^ Forward, Charles W. (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: Ideal Pub. Union. p. 12 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ Gregory, James (April 2014) [2013]. "Vegetarianism as an international movement, c.1840–1915". Academia.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  14. ^ "Honorary and Corresponding Members" (PDF). The Zoophilist. XVI (2): 31. 1896-06-01.
  15. ^ Ritter, Marco (2005). Isidor Rosenthal (1836-1915): Forscher - Arzt - Politiker [Isidor Rosenthal (1836-1915): Researcher – doctor – politician] (PDF) (in German). Medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. p. 75.
  16. ^ Neumann, Andreas (2022-04-08). Gelehrsamkeit und Geschlecht: Das Frauenstudium zwischen deutscher Universitätsidee und bürgerlicher Geschlechterordnung (1865–1918) [Scholarship and Gender: Women's Studies between the German University Idea and Bourgeois Gender Order (1865–1918)] (in German) (1 ed.). Franz Steiner Verlag. doi:10.25162/9783515131667. ISBN 978-3-515-13166-7.
  17. ^ Neumann, Andreas (2020-08-10), Göllnitz, Martin; Krämer, Kim (eds.), "Vom »Unkenteiche alter Vorurtheile« zur forcierten Erfahrungskunde? Die Bedeutung praktischer Erfahrung in veröffentlichten Umfragen zum »Frauenstudium« unter Hochschullehrern aus der Schweiz, Österreich und Deutschland zwischen 1894 und 1918", Hochschulen im öffentlichen Raum (in German) (1 ed.), Göttingen: V&R unipress, pp. 267–294, doi:10.14220/9783737011945.267, ISBN 978-3-8471-1194-8, retrieved 2024-06-29
  18. ^ a b "History of the German Vegetarian Societies". IVU International Vegetarian Union. Retrieved 2024-06-29. The Vegetarian Society of Germany held its first annual meeting in Nordhausen on the 19th May ... Perhaps you will notice that I am not now living in Neustadt, but in Oppeln, Silesia.
  19. ^ Williams, Howard (1896). The Ethics of Diet. p. 271.
  20. ^ "The 60th Anniversary of the Vegetarian Society". The Vegetarian Messenger. November 1907 – via International Vegetarian Union.
  21. ^ Albrecht, Jörg (2022). Vom "Kohlrabi-Apostel" zum "Bionade-Biedermeier": Zur kulturellen Dynamik alternativer Ernährung in Deutschland [From the “Kohlrabi Apostle” to the “Bionade Biedermeier”: On the cultural dynamics of alternative nutrition in Germany] (in German). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. p. 62. doi:10.5771/9783828879003-41. ISBN 978-3-8288-7900-3. Emil Weilshäuser (1827-unbekannt)
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