Leila Holterhoff (October 29, 1885 – February 21, 1968) was an American soprano concert singer from Los Angeles, California, who later (as Leila Mosher) became a psychoanalyst, translator, and philanthropist.
Leila S. Holterhoff was born in Dayton, Ohio and raised in the West Adams district in Los Angeles, [1] the daughter of Godfrey Holterhoff Jr. and Louise Schaeffer Lewis Holterhoff. Her father was a railroad, oil, and banking executive. [2] Her aunt, Ida Holterhoff Holloway, was a notable painter based in Ohio.
Leila Holterhoff was blind from infancy. She attended the Marlborough School in Los Angeles. She studied piano as a girl, but concentrated on voice and languages when she traveled to Paris, Florence, and Berlin for further studies, especially with Edgar Stillman Kelley. [3] She also earned a California teaching certificate in Latin. [4]
Holterhoff performed to acclaim in Berlin in 1910. [5] In 1911 she gave a series of concerts to benefit the Grand Ducal Institute for the Blind. [6] On her return to North America, Holterhoff performed across the United States in 1910s, sometimes billed as "the Helen Keller of music. [7] After her Chicago debut at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1917, where a reporter found "the quality of the voice is exceedingly sweet and this – coupled with an engaging gentleness of manner in the singer combines to make her thoroughly charming." [8]
Later in 1917, she gave a concert at Aeolian Hall in New York to benefit "blind soldiers in France". [9] She became interested in helping disabled veterans more directly. [10] [11] After studying medicine and psychology at Columbia University and earning a medical degree in the 1920s, Leila Mosher earned another professional degree from the University of Vienna. [12] [13] She co-authored a book in French with René Maublanc, on blindness. Using her fluency in European languages, she worked as a translator at the First International Conference for the Blind in New York in 1931, sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind. [14] Also in 1931, she also worked with the League of Nations in Geneva, for the International Bureau of Labor, on immigration issues. [12]
She was married twice, first to Bernard George Heyn in 1923; [15] they divorced in 1925. [16] Her second marriage was to Evan Royal Mosher by 1927. [10] She and Mosher adopted two children, Ann and Allen. Leila Holterhoff Mosher died in 1968, aged 82 years, in Coronado, California.
Leila Holterhoff (October 29, 1885 – February 21, 1968) was an American soprano concert singer from Los Angeles, California, who later (as Leila Mosher) became a psychoanalyst, translator, and philanthropist.
Leila S. Holterhoff was born in Dayton, Ohio and raised in the West Adams district in Los Angeles, [1] the daughter of Godfrey Holterhoff Jr. and Louise Schaeffer Lewis Holterhoff. Her father was a railroad, oil, and banking executive. [2] Her aunt, Ida Holterhoff Holloway, was a notable painter based in Ohio.
Leila Holterhoff was blind from infancy. She attended the Marlborough School in Los Angeles. She studied piano as a girl, but concentrated on voice and languages when she traveled to Paris, Florence, and Berlin for further studies, especially with Edgar Stillman Kelley. [3] She also earned a California teaching certificate in Latin. [4]
Holterhoff performed to acclaim in Berlin in 1910. [5] In 1911 she gave a series of concerts to benefit the Grand Ducal Institute for the Blind. [6] On her return to North America, Holterhoff performed across the United States in 1910s, sometimes billed as "the Helen Keller of music. [7] After her Chicago debut at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1917, where a reporter found "the quality of the voice is exceedingly sweet and this – coupled with an engaging gentleness of manner in the singer combines to make her thoroughly charming." [8]
Later in 1917, she gave a concert at Aeolian Hall in New York to benefit "blind soldiers in France". [9] She became interested in helping disabled veterans more directly. [10] [11] After studying medicine and psychology at Columbia University and earning a medical degree in the 1920s, Leila Mosher earned another professional degree from the University of Vienna. [12] [13] She co-authored a book in French with René Maublanc, on blindness. Using her fluency in European languages, she worked as a translator at the First International Conference for the Blind in New York in 1931, sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind. [14] Also in 1931, she also worked with the League of Nations in Geneva, for the International Bureau of Labor, on immigration issues. [12]
She was married twice, first to Bernard George Heyn in 1923; [15] they divorced in 1925. [16] Her second marriage was to Evan Royal Mosher by 1927. [10] She and Mosher adopted two children, Ann and Allen. Leila Holterhoff Mosher died in 1968, aged 82 years, in Coronado, California.