Sophie Blum-Lazarus

Born in 1867 in Stuttgart to a wealthy Jewish family, Blum-Lazarus later moved to Frankfurt.[1][2][3] She studied painting at the Städelschule and later entered the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where she made copies of works by classical painters.[2][3] Around 1900, Blum-Lazarus married Jewish industrialist Daniel Blum and moved to Paris, where she became a member of the Société des Artistes Indépendants.[3] She exhibited her work in 1909 and 1913 at the Salon d'Automne.[2] After her husband's death in 1937, Blum-Lazarus became reclusive and spent the next seven years living in a hotel.[3] Having acquired French citizenship, she stayed in Paris during the Second World War.[3] She was arrested on 8 July 1944 by the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz three weeks later, where she soon died.[1][2][3][4] In 2005, her artwork was posthumously displayed at a Musée du Montparnasse exhibition dedicated to artists deported by the Nazis.[2]