Leopold Glaszner

[PHOTOS COMING SOON]

I have always been fascinated by the Glaszner family and their photographic legacy in Cyprus. So when I was in Cyprus last year I decided to try and locate the Glaszner studio. A friend had told me that Leopold Glaszner’s granddaughter Monica Voulgari lived somewhere near the palm tree promenade in Larnaca known as the ‘phinikoudes’ so I began my search there. Without a clue really, I simply walked from door to door and down every narrow street asking the locals if they knew the Glaszner family. As fate would have it on the last day of my stay in Cyprus – I managed to find Monica Voulgari. She was delightful. At seventy-six years she looked remarkably youthful. Once I had explained my Tales of Cyprus project to her she agreed to a quick-fire interview. At her request we sat in the lounge of the Sun Hall Hotel, not far from her house. At first we talked about our common love for art and painting and I soon discovered that her daughter Irma was also an artist and art teacher just like me. Monica’s great grandfather Charles Glaszner arrived in Cyprus in 1882 together with his bohemian wife Aloysia. For some unknown reason their five-year-old son Leopold was left behind in Germany presumably with relatives. Charles Glaszner was a professional ornithologist (someone who studies birds) but he was also a very good amateur photographer. By the end of the nineteenth century he decided to set-up a professional photographic studio in Limassol, competing for business with legendary photographer J.P. Foscolo. The Glaszner studio would soon flourish as Charles began photographing the local gentry, aristocrats, urban middle class and rural peasants. The studio also started producing postcards that contained panoramic scenes such as seaside views and streetscapes. In 1900 Leopold Glaszner arrived in Cyprus to be reunited with his parents. He was now an accomplished musician and conductor having trained in Germany and worked in Greece. Like his father, Leopold also had a keen interest in photography. In 1904, aged twenty-seven he was invited by the Larnaca Municipality to set up a philharmonic orchestra which he directed for several years. At the same time his father Charles decided to open a second photographic studio in Cyprus, this time in Larnaca. This studio was managed and owned by Leopold. In 1915, Leopold Glaszner met and married Sicilian-born Anneta Riccobono whose family had emigrated to Cyprus and settled in Limassol near the Glaszner’s house. A year later in 1916, their daughter Irma was born – Monica’s mother. She was raised under the strict supervision of her family and had experienced a particularly strong attachment to her mother. Irma grew up in Larnaca and was sent to the Saint Joseph’s Catholic school for girls. Irma would become her father’s main photographic model and she appeared on many of his postcards. Always the dutiful daughter, she was happy to pose in a wide range of pre-planned settings, sometimes appearing as an angel, cherub, pirate or gypsy and other times as a fairy princess. I asked Monica to tell me what she remembered about her grandfather Leopold. She explained that although he received very little schooling he was highly intelligent and had an insatiable appetite for learning. “He was truly incredible!” she exclaimed proudly. “He could conduct large orchestras, play the violin and sing like a virtuoso. He had a beautiful singing voice. He taught himself to read, write and speak almost seven different languages including English, French, German and Greek. This is a man who had no formal education.” Leopold was indeed the Renaissance man. Apart from his outstanding achievement in music and theatre he was also an exceptional photographer and had a keen interest in a great deal of subjects. His interest in electricity enabled him to set up a business installing telephones and doorbells in many homes and buildings in Larnaca. Apparently the monks at Stavrovouni Monastery were his first customers. “Apart from understanding light and using a camera with technical efficiency, my grandfather was also gifted in knowing how to pose a person,” Monica recalls. “He knew almost instantly what their best side or position was. He knew how to read a face and direct the sitter to look or face a certain way in order to capture the ideal pose and photograph. This is why everybody who came back to collect their photos were always pleased with the results.” Monica would tell me that her mother Irma had a rather charmed and privileged upbringing surrounded by music, fashion, theatre and photography. It was in the theatre arts however where she would find her true calling and freedom. Irma Glaszner had married twice. In 1936, she married Mario Bourgis (who was from Nicosia) and they left Cyprus to begin a new life together in Athens. Unfortunately, something happened and a year later Irma returned to Cyprus on her own. Monica was unsure about the details regarding her mother’s separation from her first husband. In any case, three years later (in 1939) Irma met Herman Zirigovich (Monica’s father) who was an Austrian musician living in Cyprus. As Monica recalls, her mother Irma could not marry Herman because the Catholic Church would not grant her a divorce from Mario Bourgis. So instead Irma and Herman became Orthodox Christians and went to Greece to get married. They returned to Cyprus in 1940. That same year Monica was born. When Monica was only eleven months old her parents separated. Monica stayed with her mother and her grandparents. Once again the details of the divorce are sketching or unknown. Monica did however state that she always had contact with her father. From a young age, Monica fell in love with photography under the gaze and tutelage of her mother Irma and grandfather Leopold. From the age of fourteen until she turned 29 she was required to serve customers, help prepare the camera and the sets and props. She was trusted to handle the large glass plates and even the retouching of the photos with pencils and paints. “With one plate, you get six photos.” Monica tells me. “That might cost someone ten shillings.” The Glaszner studio was unique in the sense that it had a glass ceiling allowing natural light to fill the room. Only if the weather was foul or large group photos were required did Leopold use his photographic lamps. The studio also boasted a large dressing room where patrons could go and get fitted and made up. Monica’s father Herman was a popular musician at the Four Lanterns tavern. Mainly violin. He would play popular tunes for Tango, Rumba, Cha Cha Cha, Samba and Waltz every Sunday with his orchestra. He would also travel to Limassol on occasion to play with his orchestra at the Rialto there. “He had a beautiful voice,” recalls Monica. “When I had turned twelve I was allowed to go and watch him play.” Once our interview had concluded, I begged Monica to show me her grandfather’s photographic studio, which I was told had been converted into an art studio. Our common interest in art was a subject of great discussion throughout the morning. I also knew Monica’s daughter Irma (named after her grandmother) is a professional fine artist and uses the old Glaszner studio to prepare aspiring art students to enter Universities of Fine Art in Greece. Thankfully Monica (perhaps out of pity for me) agreed to show me her grandfather’s studio. As I had anticipated it was magnificent. I stood in the middle of the large room beneath the wonderful large glass ceiling and allowed myself to be transported back in time. I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be a customer of Leopold Glaszner. Monica had told me that every portrait was treated with the same delicacy and sensitivity as a theatrical performance. Her grandfather had every conceivable props and set design to create beautiful and detailed photographic compositions based on an endless array of themes. The classic composition was that of the patriarchal family: the father seated in a chair, mother standing with a hand gently placed on the shoulder of her man and the children sitting doe-like and demure at the feet of their parents. The extraordinary and complex sets her father constructed for each photo shoot is testament to his technical genius. Combined with his innate ability to use natural light, his command over shadows and his intimate understanding of glass-plate photography, Leopold created images that defined the style and genre for his generation. His social photographs imitated and showcased the foreign trends that were popular by the urban class in each successive era. In my opinion, the Glaszner studio portrait was pure artistry unlike anything that Cyprus had seen before. Each photograph was carefully and meticulously planned and crafted with the same artistic relevance as a theatre manager may employ when positioning actors on stage within a particular scene. So popular was the Glaszner portrait that in its heyday people were often seen queuing out of the studio doors and down the street. Wedding photography was also in great demand and the Glaszners were once again masters in this genre servicing both Christian and Muslim brides. Irma and daughter Monica were always on hand to help the bridal couple look their best as was a expert team of hairdressers and make-up artists. Those who could afford the 10-shilling fee in 1935 would get the full Glaszner treatment: sets, props, costumes, hair and makeup as well as six beautifully crafted photos. Rural people were often photographed without fancy props and sets. The simple and plain surrounds that were used were carefully chosen to match the equally plain traditional clothing worn by the sitters. Leopold was meticulous in keeping records of every photo taken at his studio. Each order is hand written and numbered with important details about the person or persons being photographed such as appearance, demeanor and distinguishing personality traits. Unfortunately my time with Monica had come to an end.

I was so grateful for the brief hour we spent together to discuss her famous family. I quickly raced down the road to the Pierides Museum to buy a book that was written by Anna G. Marangou in 1998 titled ‘the Magical World of the Glaszners’.