(1819–1894), writer. Born in Lomnice (Lomnitz), Moravia, to a family of rabbis, Fanny Schmiedl Neuda was the daughter of Juda Schmiedl (d. 1855), a rabbi. Her brother, Adolph Schmiedl (1821–1913), was a rabbi in Prostějov (Prossnitz) and Vienna. Fanny was married to Abraham Neuda (1812–1854), a rabbi in Loštice (Loschitz).
After her husband’s death, Neuda published the first Jewish women’s prayer book to be written by a woman. In addition to containing formal Jewish worship practices, this work covered both public and private events in the life of a Jewish woman. Published as Stunden der Andacht: Ein Gebet- und Erbauungsbuch für Israels Frauen und Jungfrauen zur öffentlichen und häuslichen Andacht (Hours of Devotion: Book of Prayer and Edification for Jewish Wives and Young Women; 1855), the book consisted of more than 50 prayers for Jewish women relating to all aspects of their lives. The collection attained great popularity among Jewish women in Central Europe, and was published in more than 30 editions (some of which were illustrated); the latest printing was issued in Basel, Switzerland, in 1968.
Neuda’s prayer book was translated into English by the German-born rabbi Moritz Mayer (1821–1867) under the title Hours of Devotion: A Book of Prayers and Meditations (1866). Martha Wertheimer published a revised version in German to account for the special conditions exisiting in Nazi Germany, titled Alle Tage deines Leben: Ein Buch für jüdische Frauen (All the Days of Your Life: A Book for Jewish Women; 1935).
Neuda also wrote stories about the domestic life of Jews of Bohemia and Moravia. Two of her other books appeared in Prague: Noami: Erzählungen aus Davids Wanderleben (Noami: Tales from David’s Life of Wandering; 1864) and Jugend-Erzählungen aus dem israelitischen Familienleben (Tales of Jewish Family Life for Youngsters; 1876). Neuda died in Merano (Tirol).
Susanne Blumesberger, “Fanny Neuda als Botin religiöser Literatur von Frau zu Frau: Theologische Schriften für Frauen und Mädchen aus weiblicher Hand,” Biblos 52.1–2 (2003): 7–21; Bettina Kratz-Ritter, “‘ . . . als das Ergebnis eines weiblichen Herzens’: Beobachtungen zum Frauenbild im religiösen und belletristischen Werk Fanny Neudas, 1819–1894,” Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 47.4 (1995): 357–363.