Hjelmar von Danneville | |
|---|---|
 von Danneville pictured between 1914 and 1917. | |
| Born | 1860 Denmark |
| Died | 17 February 1930 San Francisco, CA |
| Other names | Hjelmar von Dannevill; Hjelmar Danneville |
Dr. Hjelmar von Danneville (1860-1930) was a prisoner in New Zealand suspected of being an imposter during World War I due to her gender non-conformity.
Born in Denmark in 1860, she arrived in Wellington in 1911, claiming to have studied medicine in Switzerland. [1] She also claimed to have been a correspondent working on the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. [2]
Because of her short hair, masculine style of dress, and foreign accent, von Danneville was suspected of being a German imposter by the New Zealand authorities during World War I. [2] She was subjected to a forced medical examination by the military to determine her sex, and was interned for six weeks on Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington Harbour in 1917. [3] [4] She was the only woman to be interned on the island.
von Danneville moved to San Francisco in 1918, where she continued to fight with local authorities - including her arrest in 1925 "for masquerading as a man" - but ultimately obtained a permit to wear masculine clothes. She died in San Francisco in 1930. [5]
Based on her personal letters, modern historians have suspected that von Danneville may have been a lesbian. [6]
von Danneville was the subject of an exhibition at Wellington's Enjoy Public Art Gallery in 2018. [7] [8]
Her story was featured in a 2019 non-fiction book by historian Jared Davidson, Dead Letters: Censorship and Subversion in New Zealand 1914–1920. [9]
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