Remembering a Jewish refugee artist who died in Malvern

Joseph Broady looks back at the life of a Jewish refugee and artist who died in Malvern.

Frieda Salvendy was forced to flee Austria in 1939 at the age of 51, to escape the Nazis, and lived out the remainder of her life in the UK.

Her work has been documented all over the UK, with a venue in Cheltenham reportedly having displayed 50 of her paintings in 1944.

She also held exhibitions in Newcastle, Bradford, Middlesborough, Leicester and Reading, all displaying her work between 1940-1941.

She first arrived in Cornwall but moved to live out her retirement years in Malvern, where she lived on Alexandra Road for many years.

She died between the ages of 80-81, at the Court House Care Home in 1965.

Left: Frieda Salvendy Right: Frieda's memorial plaque now displayed outside of the Court House Care Home in Malvern.

Director of the Malvern Museum of Local History, Faith Renger, said: "It has been a real privilege to find out more about Frieda's activity once she located in England.

"From what we can understand, Frieda did not do much of her painting in Malvern but was said to have enjoyed painting in Cornwall upon her arrival to the UK.

"Her Cornish paintings included the harbour of St Ives and the port of Penzance. 

"With Holocaust Memorial Day just around the corner, it is so important to share the stories of refugees and celebrate their lives in this way."

Frieda was born in Vienna in 1887, to Jewish, Czechoslovakian parents.

The Malvern Gazette edition of March 26 1965 had the following death notice: “Salvendy (Frieda) – on March 24 1965, at Malvern, great painter, grand friend.”

A plaque is now displayed outside of the care home where she lived in Malvern, and her ashes were interred at Malvern Wells cemetery.

The Malvern Museum of Local History has been closed for the past two years but hopes to reopen around Easter. 

The museum plans to share more information about Frieda on its website. 

Holocaust Memorial Day is on Thursday, January 27.