- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEleonora Gabriela Marie Josefa von Mendelssohn
- Eleonora von Mendelssohn was born on January 12, 1900 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Black Hand (1950). She was married to Martin Kosleck, Rudolf Forster, Emmerich von Jeszenesky (Hungarian aristocrat) and Edwin Fischer (Swiss pianist). She died on January 24, 1951 in New York City, New York, USA.
- SpousesMartin Kosleck(May 27, 1947 - January 24, 1951) (her death)Rudolf Forster(August 6, 1938 - 1940) (divorced)Emmerich von Jeszenesky (Hungarian aristocrat)(October 1, 1925 - ?) (divorced)Edwin Fischer (Swiss pianist)(July 10, 1919 - 1925) (divorced)
- Performed on stage with husband Kosleck twice, once in Berlin in a production of "The Tribune" and again on Broadway in "The Madwoman of Chaillot" in 1950.
- Had four husbands. The first was Swiss classical pianist and conductor Edwin Fischer (1886-1960); the second was Emmerich von Jeszensky, an Austrian cavalry officer; her third was German film star Rudolf Forster; and her last was character actor Martin Kosleck.
- The turbulent relationship between Eleanora and husband Martin Kosleck was chronicled in the book "The Grand Surprise: The Journals of Leo Lerman" by Alfred A. Knopf (2007). Lerman, who was a close gay friend to Eleanora, claims that Kosleck had a male lover at the time of his wife's mysterious death in 1951. Her death was reported as a suicide although Lerman claims that after her death a pillow was found over Eleonora's face and a bath mat had been soaked in ether.
- Eleonora was named after her godmother, Eleonora Duse, the acclaimed Italian stage actress and tragedienne.
- Sister of Francesco von Mendelssohn and daughter of Robert Alexander Mendelssohn (a German banker) and Giulietta Gordighiani (a pianist and the daughter of the Italian portrait-painter Michele Gordigiani).
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