The Red Thread By Gitta Deutsch

Gitta Deutsch, born in Vienna in 1924, lost her mother early and was raised by her father, the musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch — he catalogued Franz Schubert's works and the "D-Numbers" are named after him. After the Anschluss the Quakers made possible her escape to England, where she was educated.

As a memento of Vienna she wore a locket containing a red thread pulled from a seat of her beloved Burgtheater. After the war Gitta remained in England until 1969, when she returned to Vienna and worked for the United Nations.

Since her retirement she has been writing and translating and in 1985 was awarded the Wystan-Hugh-Auden-Prize for Poetry Translation.