Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was born in November 1914 as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler into a Jewish family in Vienna. She attended a private school and received lessons in piano, ballet, and languages. At just 15 years old, she took on a leading role in a film with Heinz Rühmann and Hans Moser. The Austrian-Czechoslovak production "Ecstasy" broke with reactionary conventions, showcasing not only one of the first nude scenes but also the first female orgasm in film history. In 1933, Lamarr married a Viennese industrialist with ties to Austrofascism, and she fled to London via Paris in 1937, escaping both him and the rise of the Nazis. There, she was signed by an American film production company, laying the groundwork for her Hollywood career. In addition to her artistic talents, Lamarr showed an interest in science and technology from a young age. As a Nazi opponent in the service of the Allies, she filed a patent in 1940 for the radio-controlled guidance of torpedoes, making a significant contribution to the foundation of modern communication technology.