Mainzer Lecture Series

In 1998 Ilse Wunsch-Mainzer pledged a substantial donation to finance research in recognition of her late husband, Dr. Otto Mainzer, and his invaluable contribution to a theory of gender and love. Spring 2001 marks the beginning of a lecture series funded through her generous bequest.

Shortly before the rise of the Nazis, Otto Mainzer worked as a lawyer at the Berlin Court of Appeals and left in 1933 for Paris. He arrived in the US in 1941 where he earned a living through graphology. It was in Chicago that he met Ilse Wunsch who had arrived there in 1938. They soon moved to New York together, where Mrs. Mainzer taught musical theory and piano at NYU's School of Education, while Dr. Mainzer continued writing manuscripts on questions relating to love and sexuality.

In his manuscripts, Dr. Mainzer develops arguments concerning the interlinking of economic interests and sexual needs. He published a book, Die Sexuelle Zwangswirtschaft, which reflect the theory of sexuality that he developed during his lifetime and an autobiography "Prometheus". Ilse Wunsch-Mainzer's autobiography Zurück nach vorn. Mein Leben mit Prometheus serves not only as a memoir of her years with her husband, but also as a scrapbook of memories and reminiscences of her years before and during WWII.

Lectures presented by Judith Butler, Catharine MacKinnon, Julia Kristeva, Sander Gilman, Lukar Möller, Avital Ronell, Sam Weber, Camille Paglia.

The Mainzer Lecture Series has been made possible through the generous support of the Graduate School of Arts and Science.