Aenne Goldschmidt

Aenne Goldschmidt ( Michel; 8 November 1920 – 24 January 2020) was a Swiss expressionist dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue. She was the first dance artist to receive the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic.

Biography Aenne Michel was born on 8 November 1920 in Bern, Switzerland. She trained at Emmy Sauerbeck's dance school in Bern and worked as a freelance dance artist. In the 1930s and 1940s she was active in Communist circles, even after the Communist Party was banned by the Swiss government. In 1944 she and her husband, musicologist Harry Goldschmidt, were among the founding members of the Swiss Party of Labour. Due to their communist views they left Switzerland and moved to East Germany in 1949. Later that year she choreographed a piece for the World Festival of Youth and Students in Budapest. In 1952 she was awarded the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic for her work at the 1951 World Festival in East Berlin, becoming the first dancer to receive the national award from the East German government.