J O S E F   R O T T E R   |   B I O G R A P H Y

Josef Rotter (fl. early 1900s–mid-1920s) was a teacher, illustrator, and editorial cartoonist of German or Austrian origin, most noted for his contribution to the Molla Nasreddin magazine.

Early life and education

Date and place of birth are missing from the scarce literature that has dealt yet with Rotter's life. A rough indication regarding Rotter's age is a 1902 group photo at one of his workplaces, showing a man in his thirties to fifties1 with an obvious resemblance to a caricature portrait of Rotter in the Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Encyclopedia.2

Rotter has been variously described as German,3 German-born,4 ethnic German,5 and Austrian, without German necessarily referring to the German Empire, and with the term Austrian applied to Rotter in a meticulous, largely ethnographic work by Karl August Fischer.6

Rotter is said to have studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts,7 but his name does not appear in the institution's 1809–1935 student matriculation books.8

Further, plausibly most relevant, information was recently obtained from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, whose records show a German native speaker, Roman Catholic Josef Rotter, born on September 22, 1867 in Jauernig, son of a stuccoist, enrolled to study painting in 1885–6 under the supervision of Siegmund l'Allemand, August Eisenmenger, Christian Griepenkerl, and Franz Rumpler.9

1902–14 Career

In 1902 Rotter accepted an invitation to teach at the newly founded Tbilisi Secondary School of Painting and Sculpture, the immediate precursor of the Georgian Academy of Fine Arts.10 The invitation was issued by Oskar Schmerling, a second generation Caucasian German artist and director of the school, with whom Rotter would remain in close contact for years—the two men not only teaching at the same institution, but also traveling together, and contributing to many of the same magazines.11

 From 1906 to 1914 Rotter engaged in a remarkably intense and multicultural activity, creating over twenty three hundred illustrations for nine periodicals, all based in Tbilisi but aiming at four linguistic groups over and beyond South Caucasia: the Armenian Hasker and Khatabala, the Azeri Molla Nasreddin, the Georgian Eshmakis Matrakhi, Nakaduli, Nishaduri, Shuamavali, Tsnobis Purtseli, and the German Kaukasische Post.12 Seven of these publications were launched in the wake of the 1905 Russian Revolution,13 all took advantage of the subsequent relaxation of censorship,14 and five were satirical magazines with pioneering content.15

 Over eleven hundred of Rotter’s illustrations were published in Molla Nasreddin. Each issue of this weekly magazine, whose publication experienced multiple interruptions, had a close to eight-page editorial content, including four pages devoted to social or political cartoons. About a third of these fully illustrated pages in 1906–7, half in 1908–9, three-quarters in 1910–13, nine-tenths in 1914, and three-fifths over the entire 1906–14 period, were filled with Rotter’s work.16 So Rotter’s role is seen as important in quantitative terms. Cartoons were meant to widen the audience of Molla Nasreddin, include the less educated, and cross linguistic barriers; and indeed, the magazine enjoyed a large circulation, with numerous schools and coffeehouses among its subscribers, and a geographic reach suggesting a far from exclusively Azeri readership.17 So again Rotter’s role is seen as important, but this time from a qualitative point of view and in tandem with Schmerling, the publication’s other prominent illustrator. Finally, considering Rotter's impact in synergy with all of Molla Nasreddin's collaborators, one should recall the magazine's standing as a main proponent of progressive ideas in the Muslim world, a model or reference point for the Armenian, Azeri, Georgian, Iranian, and Tatar press, and a significant force in the Persian Constitutional Revolution.18

 In the same period, Rotter illustrated an Azeri translation of Ferdowsi's Rostam and Sohrab,19 and some of Hovhannes Tumanyan's fairy tales and short stories.20

Later life and death

Rotter’s collaboration with Tbilisi-based periodicals came to a sudden end in the summer of 1914, shortly before the onset of Word War I.21 His whereabouts during the war are unknown, but numerous indications point to Vienna as the next epicenter of Rotter's activity. There indeed, under the impulsion of Rudolf Hans Dietrich,22 Rotter was commissioned in the mid-1920s to produce a set of murals in the Etablissement Diglas depicting the gentle pleasures of Viennese life,23 another set in the Zur goldenen Glocke guest garden representing about forty of the city's musical figures,24 and a commemorative aquarelle of a ball of the Society for the Promotion of Viennese Folk Arts.25 Meanwhile tens of Rotter's illustrations were published in Vienna, in a series of books including James Fenimore Cooper's tale of the Red Rover, two narratives of Dietrich von Berne’s exploits, and a selection of Friedrich von Schiller's poems.26

 The last, and only atypical indication of Rotter's activity, from both a chronological and geographical point of view, is the 1939 publication of some of his work in Yerevan, in an album on Armenian legends.27

Circumstances of Rotter's death are not known.

Notes 

1. Thirtieth photo in GAHPC (n.d.), third row, fourth person from the right. The picture was taken at the Arshakuni House, hosting the Caucasian Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts and the Tbilisi Secondary School of Painting and Sculpture (TSAA 2017, Eliozova 2018), whose connection with Rotter is described in the next section.

2. Anar et al. (2008, 242). The portrait was first or beforehand published in the April 6, 1903 issue of the illustrated supplement to Tsnobis Furtseli, p. 4, where it is signed by Oskar Schmerling, and appearing in a group of eight portraits, not individually identified, but collectively captioned “visual artists.”

3. Anar et al. (2008, 243), Guliyev and Rza (1976–84, 8:187), Javadi (2009).

4. Grant (2020, 8).

5. Slavs and Tatars (2011, 6).

6. Fischer (1944, 20-21, 80).

7. Anar et al. (2008, 243), Guliyev and Rza (1976–84, 8:187).

8. Based on the digital edition's (ABKM 2015) search engine results. As observed by Jooss (2010, 10) the books "contain only partially accurate information, and in some cases, demonstrable errors." But on the other hand, sources affirming that Rotter studied at the Munich academy (Anar et al. 2008, 272; Guliyev and Rza 1976–87, 10:555) say the same of his colleague Schmerling, in contrast again with not only matriculation data but also Schmerling's autobiography and résumé in Caffee et al. (2019).

9. Universitätarchiv der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, report requested and forwarded to author by Joachim Diederichs, June 14, 2024.

10. TSAA (2017), SovLab (n.d.).

11. Caffee et al. (2023), Slavs and Tatars (2011, 7), Sovlab (n.d.).

12. Based on Habbibayli and Karimli (2017–8) and digital collections listed in our Resources page, our counts of Rotter’s illustrations first published in Hasker, Eshmakis Matrakhi, Kaukasische Post, Khatabala, Nakaduli, Nishaduri, Molla Nasreddin, Shuamavali, and supplements to Tsnobis Furtseli are 117, 16, 3, 840, 144, 16, 1161, 18, and 22. What was counted as an illustration, whether numbered, framed, or isolated by empty spaces, corresponds to the familiar notion of a scene. The count for Eshmakis Matrakhi includes Rotter’s contributions to the magazine’s avatars Matrakhi, Matrakhi da salamuri, Salamuri, Chevni salamuri, Eshmaki, and Eshmakis salamuri (mentioned without specific references in WMF (2022)). The count for Nakaduli conflates the illustrations published in its children’s and teenagers' editions.

13. Abashidze (1975–87, 7:452), Fischer (1944, 14), Svanidze (2018).

14. Daly (2009), Rigberg (1966).

15. Bennigsen (1962, 505, 512), Svanidze (2018).

16. Habbibayli and Karimli (2017–8). Based on this reedition, the number of Molla Nasraddin issues published in each year from 1906 to 1914 is 37, 49, 52, 52, 42, 47, 9, 27, and 25. Each issue had eight pages, with commercial content in negligible amount, except in the late 1908 to late 1909 interval, during which four additional pages were reserved for advertising.

17. Bennigsen (1962, 507, 514), Grant (2020, 5, 8–9), Slavs and Tatar (2011, 5). While reported circulation numbers range from 2,500 to 25,000, and are commonly described as impressive, comparisons are made difficult by the uncertainty surrounding the proportion of Azeris, or more generally Turkophones, in Persia.

18. Bennigsen (1962, 505, 508–512, 514).

19. Ferdowsi (1908), comprising nine illustrations by Rotter.

20. Mentioned without specific references in WMF (2023).

21. Habbibayli and Karimli (2017–8) and digital collections listed in our Resources page. The last issue of Molla Nasreddin including some of Rotter's work is dated July 23, 1914 (Julian calendar).

22. Succinct biography provided by Hilscher (2002).

23. NTW (1924, 8).

24. Die Bühne (1925, 25-6). The article features a photo of a surprisingly fully haired Rotter. Yet the Zur goldenen Glocke murals bear the same signature as that on the second illustration of Schiller's (1923), which depicts Persians in the same way as the illustrations of Ferdowsi’s (1908). Moreover, the original version of the Die Bühne photo, found by Diederichs at the Austrian National Library, shows extensive retouching of the head’s frontal and temporal regions.

25. Aquarelle found by Diederichs at the Austrian National Library. On the Society for the Promotion of Viennese Folk Arts, see Kornberger (2019).

26. Each of Ricek 's (1923; 1924) includes seven illustrations by Rotter. Contributions to Cooper's (1922)  and Schiller's (1923) are yet to be counted.

27. Rotter (1939),  comprising twelve engravings.

References

Anar et al. 2008. Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Encyclopedia [in Azeri]. Baku: Shargh-Gharb. 

Abashidze, Irakli, ed. 1975–87. Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia [in Georgian], 12 Vols. Tbilisi: Georgian Academy of Sciences.

ABKM (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München). 2015. Digitale Edition der Matrikelbücher, 1809–1935.

Caffee, Naomi, et al. 2019. Beyond Caricature: The Oskar Schmerling Digital Archive. Accessed July 11, 2024.

Cooper, James Fenimore. 1922. Der rote Freibeuter: Seeroman. Vienna: Nikola Verlag.

Bennigsen, Alexandre. 1962. “Mollah Nasreddin et la presse satirique musulmane de Russie avant 1917.” Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique 3 (3): 505–20.

Daly, Jonathan D. 2009. “Government, Press, and Subversion in Russia, 1906–1917.” The Journal of The Historical Society 9 (1): 23-65.

Die Bühne. 1925. "Grüatz euch Gott alle miteinander!" July 23, 1925, 25-26.

Eliozova, Irina. 2018. “The Caucasus Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts.” Propaganda.

Ferdowsi, Abolghasem. 1908. Rostam o Sohrab [in Azeri]. Tiflis: Abbas Ghayebzadeh.

Fischer, Karl August. 1944. Die Kaukasische Post. Leipzig: S. Hirzel Verlag.

GAHPC (Georgian Association for the History of Photography in the Caucasus). n.d. “Gigo Gabashvili Collection.” The Georgian Museum of Photography. Accessed July 25, 2025.

Grant, Bruce. 2020. “Satire and Political Imagination in the Caucasus: The Sense and Sensibilities of Molla Nasreddin.” Acta Slavica Iaponica 40: 1–18.

Guliyev, Jamil, and Rasul Rza, eds. 1976–87. Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia [in Azeri], 10 vols. Baku: Azerbaijani Academy of Sciences.

Habbibayli, Isa, and Teymour Karimli, eds. 2017–18. Molla Nasreddin [in Azeri], 5 vols. Baku: Shargh-Gharb.

Hilscher, Elisabeth Th. 2002. "Dietrich, Rudolf Hans." Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon Online. Accessed July 11, 2024.

Javadi, Hassan. 2009. “Molla Nasreddin ii: Political and Social Weekly.” Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Jooss, Birgitt. 2010. Die Digitale Edition der Matrikelbücher der Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. Norderstedt: Books on Demand.

Kornberger, Monica. 2019. "Gesellschaft zur Hebung und Förderung der Wiener Volkskunst." Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon Online. Accessed July 11, 2024.

NWT (Neues Wiener Tagblatt). 1924. "Wenn Wiener Luft weht … : Das Jubiläum eines Wiener Musikers." March 28, 1924, 8.

Ricek, Leopold Georg. 1923. Dietrich von Berne und seine Heergesellen. Vienna: Verlag von A. Pichlers Witwe und Sohne.

Ricek, Leopold Georg. 1924. Dietrich von Berne und die Rabenschlacht. Vienna: Verlag von A. Pichlers Witwe und Sohne.

Rigberg, Benjamin. 1966. “The Efficacy of Tsarist Censorship Operations, 1894–1917.” Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 14 (3): 327–46.

Rotter, Josef. 1939. Armenian Legends and Folk Tales [in Russian]. Yerevan: Gosizdat Armyanskaya SSR.

Schiller, Friedrich. 1923. Ausgewählte Gedichte. Vienna: Deutscher Verlag für Jugend und Volk.

SovLab (Soviet Past Research Laboratory). n.d. “Rotter Joseph.” Georgian-German Archive. Accessed July 25, 2023. 

Slavs and Tatars, eds. 2011. Molla Nasreddin: The Magazine that Would've, Could've, Should've. Zurich: JRP Ringier. 

Svanidze, Tamara. 2018. “Le journal satirique Le martinet du diable, observateur caustique de la première République de Géorgie.” Hypotheses.

TSAA (Tbilisi State Academy of Arts). 2017. “History of the Academy.” Tbilisi State Academy of Arts.

WMF (Wikimedia Foundation). 2022. “Eshmakis matrakhi.” Georgian edition of Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed December 15, 2022.

WMF (Wikimedia Foundation). 2023. “Josef Rotter.” Amenian edition of Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed November 12, 2023.

An initial version of this biography was published as a Wikipedia article on October 15, 2023 by a Rotter Project participant under the pseudonym Nakaduli. The above, likewise CC BY-SA 4.0 and GFDL licensed for reuse, July 21, 2024 revision is the latest by the author of the initial version.