Vienna, 24 October 2012
Loos Rooms, Music Department, Vienna City Library

Deborah Holmes’s biography ‘Langeweile ist Gift. Das Leben der Eugenie Schwarzwald’ ('Boredom is Poison. The Life of Eugenie Schwarzwald') was launched at the Music Department of Vienna City Library to a packed audience. The evening began with a welcome by the Director of Vienna City Library, Dr. Sylvia Mattl-Wurm, and an introduction by the director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the History and Theory of Biography, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Hemecker, after which Deborah Holmes discussed her book with Dr. Irene Suchy. Beyond the content of the book, the biographer commented extensively on her approach to her subject, her use of sources, as well as the unbridgeable gaps in a life story. Deirdre Benner and Melanie Henley Heyn added to a memorable occasion with songs by Franz Schubert, Arnold Schönberg, and Hanns Eisler.