Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert


Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert was a German-Russian translator, publisher and gallery owner. She is particularly noted for her work as a translator of Leon Trotsky and her work on Die Aktion with her husband, Franz Pfemfert.

Youth

Alexandra Ramm-Pfemfert was the fifth of nine children of an Orthodox Jewish family living in Starodub, approximately 400 kilometers southwest of Moscow. Her father, Gilel, was a business man while Serafima, her mother was a housewife. Starodub belonged to the Pale of Settlement for Jews who lived there almost in complete isolation from the rest of the population. Noema Ramm, her elder sister also became a translator under the name Nadja Strasser. After her older siblings rebelled against the religiously conservative attitude of the Father, it was possible for Alexandra to attend the local girls' high school. At the age of 18, after graduation, she left home arriving in Berlin in 1901.

In Berlin

After moving to Berlin she was active in the local leftist circles. She met Franz at the Café des Westens. After her marriage to Franz Pfemfert in 1911 they both got involved with Herwarth Walden's Expressionist journal Der Sturm. She worked with Franz when he launched Die Aktion later that year. Her sister, Maria Ramm, married Die Aktion contributor Carl Einstein in 1913.
From 1917, Alexandra ran theAktions-Buch-und-Kunsthandlung, based in Kaiserallee 222 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf.

Works