German, Jew, Muslim, Gay: The Life and Times of Hugo Marcus

Professor Marc David Baer, International History, London School of Economics and Political Science, spoke about his new publication, "German, Jew, Muslim, Gay: The Life and Times of Hugo Marcus" that was released in April 2020 with the Religion, Culture, and Public Life series, Columbia University Press. The presentation will be followed with a short question and answer period.

This event was co-sponsored by The Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies and the Islamic Studies Program.

Hugo Marcus (1880-1960) was born a German-Jew, but converted to Islam, becoming one of the most prominent Muslims in Germany prior to the Second World War. He was also a gay man who never called himself so but fought for homosexual rights and wrote queer fiction under the pen name Hans Alienus during his decades in exile. Baer uses Marcus’s life and work to shed new light on German Jewish history and anti-Semitism, Islam in Europe, Muslim-Jewish relations, and the history of the gay rights struggle. He explores how Marcus created a unique synthesis of being German, gay and Muslim that positioned Goethe as an intellectual and spiritual model. Marcus’s life offers a new perspective on notions of sexuality and competing conceptions of gay identity in the multilayered world of interwar and postwar Europe.

Columbia University Press is offering a special discount 20% on the book for this event by using a promo code CUP20 under Discounts. The book can be purchased here: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/german-jew-muslim-gay/9780231196710