Emmy Hennings

Emmy Hennings (born Emma Maria Cordsen, 17 January 1885 – 10 August 1948) was a German poet and performing artist, and co-founder of the Dadaist Cabaret Voltaire with her second husband Hugo Ball.

Known as the "star of the show," Hennings has been the subject of numerous creative works, including a best-selling novel, a graphic novel, short films and various works of visual art.

Life and work Hennings was born on 17 January 1885 in Flensburg, German Empire, to Ernst Cordsen, a sailor, who died young. She described herself later as "a seaman's child".

In 1906, after ending her first marriage to an actor, losing a son, and leaving her daughter to grow up with her grandmother, At the time, Hennings was already a published poet, whose works had appeared in the left-wing publications Pan and Die Aktion. In 1913 she also published a short poetry collection titled Ether Poems (Äthergedichte in German). Later, Hennings was a contributor to the magazine Revolution, founded by Ball and Hans Leybold.

Hennings and Ball moved to Zürich in 1915, where they took part in the founding of the Cabaret Voltaire, which marked the beginning of the Dada movement.

Hennings was a morphine user and an occasional prostitute. Her performances included a role in the German premiere of Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of a Man) by playwright Leonid Andreev, in which she appeared with Ball. Hennings also performed in Krippenspiel, a piece written by Ball.

Hennings married Ball on 21 February 1920. They had no children together. However, Hennings had a daughter, Annemarie, from a previous relationship, who took fondly to Ball. Hennings, who outlived Ball by two decades, lived in Magliaso, Switzerland from 1942 to 1948. She died on 10 August 1948 at a clinic in Sorengo, Switzerland.

Hennings was a Catholic and survived the Spanish flu.

In popular culture The German emo band 125, Rue Montmartre featured Emmy Hennings on the cover of their split 7" with Maggat (1999).

The 2024 novel, "What was Beautiful and Good" tells a story of Emmy Hennings.