Fred Kormis
Fred Kormis (1894-1986)
Lived at: Lived briefly in Hampstead Garden Suburb sometime between 1940 and 1944
Profession: Sculptor and medallist
About his life:
- Born in Germany to Jewish parents
- Served in the Austrian Army and was imprisoned during the First World War
- Returned to Germany from 1920-1933 after which he fled the Nazis; lived in North London from 1934 until his death
- Was a leading sculptor and portrait medallist
- Known for his memorial works, ‘Prisoners of War and Concentration Camp Victims Memorial’ and the relief plaque ‘Marchers’
- Artist of 1 portrait in NPG (a medal of King Edward VIII when Prince of Wales), but no photographs of him
Fred Kormis was born in Frankfurt into a Jewish family. In his teens he was apprenticed to a sculpture workshop. During the First World War, he served in the Austrian army, and in 1915 was captured, wounded and imprisoned. After escaping in 1920 he returned to Germany, where he resumed his career, married, and held solo exhibitions. Following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, he moved first to Holland, where he held solo exhibitions and taught refugee children, then, in 1934 to England, where he held his first solo exhibition the same year. He settled in North London's 'Finchleystrasse' (gaining British citizenship in 1947) and worked for the potteries during the war. Much of his major work was lost after his studio was bombed in 1940 but he also earned a living as a leading portrait medallist. Kormis' work included the 'Prisoners of War and Concentration Camp Victims Memorial' in Gladstone Park, Dollis Hill, and a relief plaque, 'Marchers', outside King's College, London. His work is in UK collections including the British Museum, the Imperial War Museum, Leeds City Museum and Art Galleries, the Royal West of England Academy, as well as collections in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and New York
