In Search of my Grandfather Johannes Ilmari Auerbach/John Ivor Allenby

Nationwide arts festival celebrating refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British cultureMarch 2020 marked the official end of the festival, but also the beginning of a longer-term commitment to celebrating the impact of this remarkable generation of émigrés under the Insiders/Outsiders umbrella

Insiders Outsiders

Jilly Allenby will talk about her fascinating grandfather, the German-born sculptor Johannes Ilmari Auerbach

German-born Johannes Ilmari Auerbach (1899-1950) was born into an artistic and intellectual Jewish family in Silesia and studied at the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1921. Auerbach subsequently worked as a sculptor in Paris, before returning to Germany in 1932. Imprisoned in 1933–35, he and his wife, art historian Ingeborg Fraenckel left Germany in 1936 and settled in England (via Capri, Malta and Cyprus) in 1938 where he changed his name to John Ivor Allenby. During the war Auerbach worked for the British War Office, and in 1946 settled in Oxford, where he taught sculpture at the Oxford School of Art, also producing a number of works for St. Etheldreda's Church, Horley.The motivation to uncover and write about her grandfather’s life comes in part from the silence with which the questions Jilly Allenby asked were met as she was growing up. Early in her researches it was clear that Johannes’ extraordinary life, lived in a time and in places which were rarely safe or peaceful, but turbulent and at times terrifyingly dangerous, must be pieced together. The women he loved and many of the people with whom he was associated were themselves noteworthy and make fascinating contributions to the story. Jilly spent her early career specialising in air pollution, and later worked as journalist writing about European environmental policy for business and regulators. She is currently studying Art History at Birkbeck, University of London. Image: J.I.Auerbach © The Allenby Family Archive<a href="https://insidersoutsidersfestival.org/events/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Insiders/Outsiders online events</a> are free, but in order to help us continue our activities into next year and beyond, a donation of at least £5 per event would be hugely appreciated. To donate, <a href="https://insidersoutsidersfestival.org/support-us/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">click here</a>.

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In Search of my Grandfather Johannes Ilmari Auerbach/John Ivor Allenby

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