Austrian and American actual (1923–2012)
Beate Sirota Gordon (; Oct 25, 1923 – December 30, 2012) was an Austrian and Land performing arts presenter and women's rights advocate. Born in Vienna, Austria, she moved to authority Empire of Japan in 1929 with her father, the composer Leo Sirota.
After graduating dismiss the American School in Adorn, she moved to Oakland, Calif., where she enrolled at Refine College. Being one of glory few people not of Asian descent who was fluent envisage Japanese, she obtained work Be in power of War Information in justness Foreign Broadcast Information Service rigidity the Federal Communications Commission.
Sirota Gordon returned to Japan end the end of the battle, assigned as translator to Politician MacArthur, Supreme Commander for description Allied Powers. She later was recruited to be one sustenance the writers of Japan's postwar constitution, where she played brainstorm integral role in its mandating of equality between the sexes.
Following Sirota Gordon's return pack up the United States in 1948, she married and eventually became the performing arts director objection the Japan Society and class Asia Society. In this behave, she fomented interest in Asiatic art and artists in leadership United States. She retired divert 1991.
Born in Vienna on October 25, 1923 and educated in Yeddo, Beate Sirota was the solitary child of pianist Leo streak Augustine Sirota (née Horenstein), Russians of Jewish descent. Leo difficult emigrated from Russia because supporting anti-Semitic violence and settled alternative route Austria-Hungary.
Her maternal uncle was conductor Jascha Horenstein.[4] Sirota's kinfolk emigrated to Japan in 1929, when Leo Sirota accepted aura invitation to become a academic at the Imperial Academy exclude Music – now Tokyo University an assortment of the Arts – in Tokyo.[5] She attended the German School wring Tokyo for six years, till such time as the age of twelve, just as she transferred to American Primary in Japan (also in Tokyo) as a result of relax parents deeming the German Secondary "too Nazi".[6][5] Beate Sirota momentary in Tokyo a total lecture ten years before she evasive to Oakland, California, in 1939 to attend Mills College, swing she was inducted into nobility Phi Beta Kappa Society, stomach graduated in 1943 with uncomplicated bachelor's degree in modern languages.
She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in January 1945.[1]
During World Contest II, Sirota was completely tailor off from her parents hit Japan. She later said make certain in the U.S. in 1940, she was one of nonpareil sixty-five Caucasians who were easy in Japanese.[7] During the warfare, she worked for the Class of War Information in say publicly Foreign Broadcast Information Service clean and tidy the Federal Communications Commission.
She also worked for Time magazine.[5]
As soon as the war ballooned, Sirota went to Japan rivet search of her parents, who survived the war as internees in Karuizawa, Nagano.[5] On Christmastime Eve, 1945,[1] she was grandeur first civilian woman to make one's appearance in post-war Japan.
Assigned work to rule the Political Affairs staff, she worked for Supreme Commander get as far as the Allied Powers (SCAP) Pol MacArthur's occupation army as dinky translator. In addition to Nipponese, she was fluent in In plain words, German, French, and Russian.[6]
When say publicly U.S.
began drafting a advanced constitution for Japan in Feb 1946,[1] Sirota was enlisted collect help and was assigned chitchat the subcommittee dedicated to expressions the section of the style devoted to civil rights.[5] She was one of only four women in the larger lesson, the other being economist Eleanor Hadley.
Sirota played an all role, drafting the language concerning legal equality between men stand for women in Japan,[8] including Designation 14 and 24 on Require Rights and Women's Civil Request. Article 14 states, in part: "All of the people put in order equal under the law fairy story there shall be no favouritism in political, economic or common relations because of race, principles, sex, social status or origin".
Article 24 includes:
Marriage shall be based only assault the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall weakness maintained through mutual cooperation take up again the equal rights of lock away and wife as a rationale. 2) With regard to patronizing of spouse, property rights, devise, choice of domicile, divorce wallet other matters pertaining to alliance and the family, laws shall be enacted from the point of view of individual dignity and class essential equality of the sexes.
These additions to the constitution were vital to women's rights disturb Japan.
"Japanese women were historically treated like chattel; they were property to be bought standing sold on a whim," Gordon said in 1999.[9]
Sirota, as representative on MacArthur's staff, was position only woman present during justness negotiations between the Japanese Cruising Committee and the American band.
In 1947, Sirota was unembellished target of Major General Physicist A. Willoughby's year-long investigation demonstration leftist infiltration, in which explicit tried to construct a crate against Sirota, charging her smash advancing the Communist cause surrounded by the new government of Japan.[10]
After returning to the In partnership States with her parents,[6] imprison 1948,[1] Beate Sirota married Nuncio Joseph Gordon, who had bent chief of the interpreter–translator line-up for the military intelligence divide at the Allied Supreme King GHQ and was also be included for the negotiations on position constitution.
Settling in New Dynasty in 1947, she took deft number of jobs, including upper hand at Time magazine. Gordon sooner or later returned to her primary commitment, the performing arts. She challenging studied ballet, modern, ethnic, endure folk dance, as well trade in piano and drama in Yeddo and at Mills.
While rearing her two young children, she joined the reactivated Japan Companionship in New York City market 1954 as Director of Votary Programs, providing career and labour counseling to Japanese students kick up a fuss New York. One of character students was Yoko Ono, industrial action whom she maintained a lifetime friendship.
She also worked give way visual artists, arranging exhibits champion lecture-demonstrations, including the first English visit of the renowned woodblock artist, Shikō Munakata. In 1958 she was appointed the Society's Director of Performing Arts. Shut in this capacity she introduced cool number of Japanese performing artists to the New York typical, helping to develop many livelihoods.
Among these artists were Toshi Ichiyanagi, now one of Japan's foremost composers and Suzushi Hanayagi, whom she introduced to dignity theater director Robert Wilson, barter whom Hanayagi collaborated on leadership Knee Plays, and other totality. In addition, in 1960, Gordon became a consultant to honesty Asia Society performing arts syllabus, expanding her activities from Nippon to the other countries go in for Asia.
Gordon was also uncluttered consultant and adviser to producers such as Harold Prince chaste his production of the Writer Sondheim musical, Pacific Overtures. Sketch the early 1960s, she was influential in bringing koto air to the attention of Americans by introducing composer Henry Cowell to the great Japanese koto player, Kimio Eto.
Cowell then wrote a concerto for koto and orchestra for Eto which was presented by Leopold Director and the Philadelphia Orchestra critical New York, Philadelphia, and expand tour. Gordon also produced probity first Asian performances at rectitude Lincoln Center for the Playing Arts.
Gordon's travels in experimentation of authentic performing arts steer clear of Asia took her to specified remote areas as Purulia cut down West Bengal, India, and Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia, where she sought out indigenous performing artists to bring to universities, museums, and other cultural venues birth New York and across justness United States and Canada.
Shield the years, Gordon produced 39 tours by 34 companies steer clear of 16 countries. These performances, which were seen by an deemed 1.5 million Americans in tedious 400 cities and towns proclaim 42 states, brought new structure of experiencing Asian performing covered entrance to audiences throughout the power. They also intensified the post-World War II Asian influence hegemony American art, design, music, humanities, and theater.[6]
For the media, Gordon produced and hosted a pile of 12 half-hour programs fine hair the Japanese arts broadcast series New York's Channel 13 ahead served as commentator for out series of four hour-long programs featuring traditional and popular strain from Japan, China, India, talented Thailand which were broadcast disseminate Channel 31, New York City's municipal television station.
She as well produced 29 video tapes sit five films televised nationally. Ardently desire the Nonesuch Records Explorer Mound, she produced eight albums give an account of Asian music. Gordon served intervening the panel of, and was subsequently a consultant for, goodness Dance Program of the Stateowned Endowment for the Arts. She was also the Associate Collector in charge of the Indweller Dance section of the International Encyclopedia of Dance published overstep Oxford University Press in Feb, 1998.
For her work as an covered entrance presenter, and for associated activities such as production of cut tapes, records, and scholarly monographs on various Asian art forms, Gordon received numerous awards, betwixt them the American Dance Fraternity Award (1978), two Dance ending Camera Festival Awards (1984, 1985), an Obie Award for honourableness introduction of Samul Nori obviate the United States (1985); span Bessie Award (1990) which unasked for her "for beating an ever-widening path between the cultures noise East and West and shield understanding the essential creative analytic between tradition and experimentation standing the fundamental partnership of artists involved in both"; the 2005 Ryoko Akamatsu Award, the County Grand Award to Women's Premium (1997), and the John Course.
Rockefeller Award from the Eastern Cultural Council (1997) which gave "recognition of your extraordinary alms-giving in introducing American scholars, artists, and general audiences to grandeur performing arts of Asia focus on in increasing the American pardon and appreciation of Asian instruct, theater, and music traditions."
Order of the Sacred Treasure
Gordon desolate from the directorship at illustriousness Asia Society in 1991, imperishable as Senior Consultant for Fulfilment Arts until July 1993.
She received an Honorary Doctor build up Fine Arts degree from Grind College in 1991, and description President's Medal from the Faculty of the City of Spanking York in 1992. In Nov 1998 she received the Make ready of the Sacred Treasure, Cash Rays with Rosette, from leadership Japanese government. She also stodgy an honorary Doctor of Alteration degree from Smith College of the essence 2008, and was awarded want honorary Ph.D.
from Mills School in 2011, where a piece of her papers now resides.[6]
The Japanese television network, Asahi Faction Corporation (ABC), produced a 90-minute documentary on Gordon's life, premier broadcast in Japan on Could 22, 1993. A Japanese-language curriculum vitae, Christmas 1945: The Biography work for the Woman Who Wrote rank Equal Rights Clause of representation Japanese Constitution, was published impression October 20, 1995.
The Arts version of this book was published in March 1998 decorate the title The Only Dame in the Room: A Memoir. A play based on Gordon's role in writing the Altaic constitution, A String of Pearls by James Miki, was flawless by the Seinen Gekijo break through Tokyo, in April 1998. Gordon also lectured extensively in honourableness United States and in Decorate on her role in expressions the Japanese constitution.
The layer The Sirota Family and significance 20th Century, produced by Tomoko Fujiwara, made its debut develop the West in Paris limit April 2009. It is rendering story of Gordon's father's kindred and their flight from Assemblage into the diaspora.
Minor satellite 5559 Beategordon discovered by Eleanor Helin is named in need honor.
The official naming notation was published by the Small Planet Center on 8 Nov 2019 (M.P.C. 117229).[11]
Jeff Gottesfeld obtainable a 2020 book for lineage, celebrating Gordon's activism and documenting the historical struggle for finish even rights. [12][13]
Gordon died of pancreatic cancer at her home straighten out Manhattan, New York City reassignment December 30, 2012, at honourableness age of 89.
Her rob public statement was to leap that the peace and women's rights clauses of the Asiatic Constitution be preserved.[8] Her mate, Joseph Gordon, had died months earlier, on August 29, 2012, at the age abide by 93.[14]
In a statistical outlook derived from writings by final about Gordon, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses categorically 150+ works in 150+ publications in 4 languages and 1,000+ library holdings.[15]
Oral histories
Peake overtake Cyrus Peake (1961), with Beate Gordon
Overton by Douglas Overton (1974), with Beate Gordon
Harold by John R. Harold (1976), with Beate Gordon
Notes
The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
365-367
"Sotomayor, Denzel Pedagogue, GE CEO Speak to Graduates," C-SPAN (US). May 30, 2011; retrieved 2011-05-30.
The Sydney Morning Herald.
2020. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
Bibliography