Henry Jolles

Henry Jolles (born Heinz-Frederic Jolles; 28 November 1902 – 16 July 1965) was a German pianist and composer. Uprooted from his native Germany by the rise of Nazism, he spent his last quarter-century in Brazil.

Life Jolles was born in Berlin to Dr Oscar Jolles and his wife, Gertrude (née Sternberg). His mother was Jewish but it is unclear if his father was also. and near the end of World War I the Kingdom of Württemberg would honor him with the Wilhelmkreuz, a recently created civilian decoration for merit in the war effort, for his management of that company's metals business.

After studying piano with Artur Schnabel and Edwin Fischer and composition with Paul Juon and, privately, with Kurt Weill, Jolles began to develop a successful performing career in the 1920s. His academic career also flourished, bringing appointment as professor at the Cologne Music Academy in 1928, at which point he moved from Berlin-Charlottenburg to Cologne. The ascendency of the Nazis brought an abrupt halt to this progress and several years of disruptions. In 1933, the regime directed Jolles's dismissal from his Academy position, and, by 1934, Jolles had moved to Paris to escape persecution. There, he had some success in re-establishing his performing career and, in 1940 or 1941, married Elisabeth Henriette Sauty de Chalon, but with the fall of France in 1940, Jolles came back into danger from the German occupation. Luck was with him, however, as he received assistance from American philanthropist Varian Fry. Jolles secured an entry permit into Brazil and able to flee France aboard a freighter from Marseille in 1942.

In 1952, Hans-Joachim Koellreutter invited Jolles to accept a teaching position at the Escola Livre de Música in São Paulo. His students there included composer Henrique de Curitiba.

Death Jolles died in São Paulo in 1965, aged 63. His wife died there three years later, on 26 March 1968.