Muses: Lou Andreas-Salomé

Episode Summary

Lou Andreas-Salomé was born in 1861 in Russia. She was the youngest daughter of a Russian general who doted on her. After a difficult relationship with an older, married teacher, Lou's mother sent her to the University of Zurich to study. Though academically successful, Lou's health declined. Her mother moved them to Rome where Lou met philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Paul Rhee. The three formed a love triangle, though they never lived together as planned. Lou inspired Nietzsche's novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra. By the mid-1880s, Lou's writing career blossomed. She published a novel and broke from Nietzsche and Rhee. In 1887 she married Friedrich Carl Andreas but they separated within two years. Over the next decade, Lou had affairs and continued publishing. In 1898 she met poet Rainer Maria Rilke who worshipped her. In 1911, Lou met Sigmund Freud and soon began psychoanalyzing herself. She became a respected psychoanalyst. Though initially famous for her relationships with prominent intellectuals, Lou is now remembered as a writer, thinker and icon of sexual freedom in her own right.

Episode Show Notes

Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937) was an inspiration to some of Germany’s most famous thinkers – including Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. But she was also an intellectual, whose writings on sexual liberation and women’s rights paved the way for generations of feminists.

Episode Transcript

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One-year upgrade on Go 5G Next requires financing new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six plus months with 50% paid off. Upgrade ends financing in any promo credits. Visit AT&T.com. SPEAKER_04: Hey, can I let you in on a little secret? I'm obsessed with the Drop app. Drop makes it so easy to score free gift cards just for doing my everyday shopping at places like Ulta, Sam's Club, and Lyft. So if you're like me and love a good shopping spree, download Drop today and join the secret club of savvy shoppers. And use my code, getdrop999 to get $5. SPEAKER_01: This August on Womanaca, we're taking a trip through history to discover the stories of muses. Women whose lives inspired work that's shaped our culture in small ways and large. Special thanks to this month's sponsor, Mercedes-Benz, whose own famous namesake was inspired by a young muse named Mercedes. Join us all month long for fascinating stories of women who are drivers of creativity, inspiration, and artistic expression. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanaca. This month we're talking about muses, women who are drivers of creativity and inspiration. Today's muse was an inspiration to some of Germany's most famous thinkers, including Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. But she was also an intellectual whose writings on sexual liberation and women's rights paved the way for generations of feminists. Let's talk about Lou Andreas Salome. Louise Salome was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1861. She was the youngest in the family and the only daughter. Her father, a well-known Russian general, doted on her. After a relationship with a teacher became toxic, he was much older, married, and in love with her. Louise got sick, so her mother sent her to Switzerland to study at the University of Germany. She was a young woman who was a young woman who was a young woman who was a young woman who was a young woman who was a young woman and her mother sent her to Switzerland to recover. Louise, who now went by Lou, enrolled at the University of Zurich, where she studied theology and art history. But despite her academic success, Lou's health continued to decline. When she started coughing up blood, her mother once again planned a move, this time to a much warmer climate, Rome. In 1882, Lou and her mother arrived in Italy. Rome at the time was a hotbed of intellectuals filled with Europe's most ambitious writers and thinkers. Lou met philosophers Paul Rhee and Friedrich Nietzsche, and soon, both were in love with her. The three formed a love triangle and even made plans to live together in a commune they called the Trinity. Cohabitation never became a reality, but the trio did leave behind a photograph of Lou in a cart brandishing a whip. Nietzsche and Rhee stand in front, her horses. By 1885, Lou had broken away from both Nietzsche and Rhee. Nietzsche in particular found inspiration in their breakup. His novel, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, was directly inspired by Lou. He later wrote, "'My greatest poem celebrates our union and our tragic separation.' By the mid-1880s, Lou's own writing career had started to blossom. In 1885, she published, I'm Kampf und Gute, a novel about a man's destructive effects on three women. The man, it seems, embodied Nietzsche. Each of the three women represented an element of Lou's personality. The muse had become the artist. In 1887, Lou embarked on another romantic endeavor, marrying Friedrich Carl Andreas, a linguistic scholar. She ended up hyphenating her last name, though she made sure to put her own name last. Andreas, like many of Lou's partners, acted out wildly during their relationship. At one point, he stabbed himself in the chest with a small knife. Within two years, they'd separated." Over the next decade, Lou continued to write and publish and love. She wrote about the feminist themes in Enric Ibsen's plays and about Nietzsche, surprisingly. She had affairs with a doctor from Vienna and a playwright from Germany. In 1898, Lou met the poet Reine Maria Rilke. He was 14 years younger than her, and their relationship became one of worship. Lou ultimately was the one who convinced Rilke to take the name Reine, the German version of René. As a new century dawned, Lou wrote a number of novels and short stories, but she craved a second career. In 1911, she went to an event hosted by the International Psychoanalytic Association. There, she met Sigmund Freud. By 1913, Lou had started psychoanalyzing herself. Soon, Lou was known and respected as an analyst. Lou died in 1937. For years, her relationships with prominent intellectuals earned her some fame, but it wasn't until recently that her own work reentered the conversation. Today, Lou is remembered as a writer, a thinker, and an icon of sexual freedom. All month, we've been talking about muses. Join us tomorrow as we start a new month highlighting women of resistance. For more information, check us out on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow. SPEAKER_05: AT&T and Verizon lure you in with their best phone offers, only to lock you into a three-year phone contract. Not at T-Mobile. Now, with T-Mobile's best Go 5G plans, upgrade when you want. Every year or every two, you decide. Visit T-Mobile.com to take charge of your upgrades. Get two-year financing on Go 5G Plus and Next. SPEAKER_06: One-year upgrade on Go 5G Next requires financing new qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six plus months with 50% paid off. Upgrade ends financing in any promo credits. See T-Mobile.com. SPEAKER_00: Do you hear it? The clock is ticking. 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