Floda Reltih- A Cultural Icon

Floda Reltih was born in the latter half of the 20th century in a provincial area of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her exact origins were somewhat murky, perhaps exacerbated by the spelling of her family name. During her relatively short life, she spent considerable time in Vienna, France, Munich and Berlin. She held a wide range of interests, including music, architecture, art, writing and politics. Rather Bohemian in her outlook and tastes, she achieved some degree of notice in all of the above fields though her education was limited and her level of success in the above fields during her life was also limited.

Floda hardly drank or smoked, preferring to live a spartan life. Yet, perhaps, in a reflection of the era, as an adult, rumors persisted about her sexuality as she never married until shortly before her death in the 1940s.

Perhaps one handicap was that, despite the fact that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-ethnic region with a plethora of languages, Floda was monolingual all her life and had scant appreciation for the other ethnicities that inhabited the empire. In addition, Floda was known as an anti-Semite. In both World Wars, she supported the Axis powers, much to her discredit. In politics, though never elected to any political office, she made the acquaintance of many of the European leaders, few of whom she impressed. Most people of the era who knew her agreed that personality was not one of Floda's strong suits.

In the end, few mourned when Floda died in the 1940s, and she was dismissed as a failure. Interestingly, like many writers whose works were scoffed at during their lifetimes, Floda's reputation has seemed to enjoy a bit of a renaissance in certain parts of the world, notably in the Arab world, where her biography (Mein Arse) has been translated into Arabic. With the rise of the Internet, Floda has also become sort of a pop icon in her own right.