Eugenie Schwarzwald (1872-1940) was one of the most fascinating women of her generation. She campaigned enthusiastically for progressive education and social work, as well as communal kitchens and holiday camps. 'Frau Doktor' was also active as a journalist and invited writers such as Thomas Mann, Sinclair Lewis and Egon Friedell to her literary salon in Vienna, one of the most progressive of its time. Schwarzwald founded Austria’s first real grammar school for girls, aiming at providing a 'school of joy'. 'Boredom is poison' was her motto. 

She invited artists and leading figures of Viennese modernism to participate in the school, among them Adolf Loos, Arnold Schönberg and Oskar Kokoschka. In her later years though, she had to witness how the financial crisis and political extremism destroyed her life’s work. In 1938 she escaped to Switzerland, where she died in 1940.

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