Dora Richter

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Dora Richter
DoraRichter.png
Born1891
German Empire
Diedc. May 1933 (age 42) (presumed)
Berlin, Germany (presumed)
NationalityGerman
Other namesDörchen Richter
Occupationdomestic servant
Known forfirst known person to undergo complete gender reassignment surgery

Dora "Dörchen" Richter (1891–1933) was the first known person to undergo complete male-to-female gender reassignment surgery.[1] She was one of a number of transgender people in the care of sex-research pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld at Berlin's Institute for Sexual Research during the 1920s and early 1930s. She underwent surgical removal of the testicles in 1922, followed in 1931 by removal of the penis and vaginoplasty.[2]

Biography[]

Richter was born to a poor farming family[3] in 1891. Early in childhood, Richter displayed a "tendency to act and carry on in a feminine way".[4] At the age of 6 years, she apparently tried to remove her penis with a tourniquet.[5] Using the name Dora, she began wearing women's clothing and presenting as female, working under her birth name as a waiter in Berlin hotels during the busy summer season, then living as female the remainder of the year. She was periodically arrested for cross-dressing, serving time in prison before being released by a judge into the care of Hirschfeld.[5]

With special permission from the police to wear women's clothing, Richter worked with other transgender people as a domestic servant at the Institute for Sexual Research, one of the few places where a trans person could be employed, where she was affectionately known as Dörchen.[4] In 1922, she underwent an orchiectomy.  [de], a psychiatrist working at the institute, published Richter's gender transformation as a case study: "Her castration had the effect – albeit not very extensive – of making her body become fuller, restricting her beard growth, making visible the first signs of breast development, and giving the pelvic fat pad... a more feminine shape."[6]

In early 1931, Richter had a penectomy performed by institute physician Ludwig Levy-Lenz, and in June that year an artificial vagina was surgically grafted by Berlin surgeon  [de],[7][6] making her the first transgender woman of whom records remain to undergo vaginoplasty.

In May 1933, with growing Nazi influence in Germany (Hirschfeld had fled the country), a mob of students attacked the institute, and the state authorities then burned its records. Richter's fate after this attack is not known. It is presumed that she was either killed in the attack or was arrested after it and died in custody.[5][8]

References[]

  1. ^ "Magnus Hirschfeld - The Father of Transgenderism". Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  2. ^ Mancini, E. (8 November 2010). "Magnus Hirschfeld and the Quest for Sexual Freedom: A History of the First International Sexual Freedom Movement". Google Books. ISBN 9780230114395. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  3. ^ Ball, Edward (2010). Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love. Simon and Schuster. p. 89. ISBN 9781451603712.
  4. ^ a b Rimmele, Harald. "Rudolph R./Dorchen". www.hirschfeld.in-berlin.de. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  5. ^ a b c "Dorchen's Day – Providentia". drvitelli.typepad.com. December 5, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "A Trans Timeline – Trans Media Watch". Trans Media Watch. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  7. ^ "Rudolph R./Dorchen". Institute for Sexual Science (1919–1933). Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  8. ^ Kaye, Hugh (November 16, 2021). "The incredible story of the first known trans woman to undergo gender confirmation surgery". Attitude. Retrieved January 31, 2022.


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