Remarkable Women: Pia Hierzegger, Erika Freeman, Renée Schroeder

Pia Hierzegger, Erika Freeman, Renée Schroeder:
Three women, three generations, three topics - science, career and life

Three renowned women from the cultural and scientific scene at a summit meeting: Actress, author and director Pia Hierzegger (47) moderates a discussion with biochemist Renée Schroeder (66) and psychoanalyst Erika Freeman (92).

Erika Freeman, who commutes between New York and Vienna, is coming to the Kreisky Forum with the recently awarded title of Austria's „Woman Of The Year“ (in the contemporary witness category). Renée Schroeder recently made headlines with her biography „Alle Moleküle immer in Bewegung“. Pia Hierzegger has recently enjoyed success with major roles in films such as „Wilde Maus“ and „Der Boden unter den Füßen“.

What all three have in common is that they are not only top performers in their respective fields, but also keep a keen eye on the course of time. The evening, entitled „Remarkable Women“, promises remarkable insights into science, career and life.

Renée Schroeder, born in 1953, is a woman with many facets. The biochemist has fought her way from Vienna to a place at the international forefront of science. No easy feat for a woman in this field. Now, in „retirement“, she is starting a new career as a farmer specialising in wild herbs. Born in Brazil in 1953, Schroeder's childhood journey took her via Luxembourg to Bruck an der Mur. She spent her travelling years in Munich, Paris and the USA before finding her professional home in Vienna. Between science and feminism, the convinced atheist has had to fight many battles to this day... An extraordinary and consistent woman: the new biography „Renée Schroeder - Alle Moleküle immer in Bewegung“ (Residenz-Verlag), written by Ursel Nendzig, is an inspiration for all women to go their own way.

 Erika Freeman was born in Vienna in 1927 and had to flee from the Nazi regime to New York in the USA at the age of 12. There she studied at Columbia University and became a highly respected psychoanalyst. She counseled many politicians such as former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and became the mental support of various Hollywood legends such as Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and Woody Allen. Ultimately, Erika Freeman herself became a star: she was a regular guest on US talk shows in the 1970s and was asked about almost every event as a psychoanalyst. In her old age, she also returned to her old homeland of Austria and worked tirelessly as a contemporary witness against forgetting.

 Pia Hierzegger was born in Graz on 2 February 1972. She is a member of the ensemble of the Graz off-theatre group Theater im Bahnhof, where she also directs and is part of the Eigenbau group of authors. In 2009, she adapted Wolf Haas' novel „Das ewige Leben“ as a stage play for Schauspielhaus Graz. In the 2010/11 season, she wrote the text for the world premiere of „Die Kaufleute von Graz“ (director: Helmut Köpping). Pia Hierzegger is also active as a film actress. She made her first three cinema films under the direction of Michael Glawogger. Director Wolfgang Murnberger cast her in his Wolf Haas film „Der Knochenmann“ in 2009. The tragicomedy „Wilde Maus“ premiered in competition at the 2017 Berlinale. Directed by and starring alongside her partner Josef Hader, Hierzegger played the unsuspecting wife of a dismissed music critic who wants to make money with an unusual business idea. In 2019, Pia Hierzegger was once again a guest at the Berlinale with a leading role in Marie Kreutzer's drama „Der Boden unter den Füßen“.