Dina Alma de Paradeda

Dina Alma de Paradeda, known also just as Alma de Paradeda (1871 - 8 December 1906, Breslau) was a Brazilian socialite, known for the circumstances of her death (self-poisoning in front of a doctor, who after examining the body revealed she was assigned male at birth) and following media interest in the story; the numerous testimonies of it made her one of the first documented and known by name transgender women both of South American origin, and living in Central-Eastern Europe.

Biography

Early life 
Dina was born in 1871 as Alfred (or Alfredo) H., to a Brazilian woman and probably a Spanish consul and a count from Rio de Janeiro, and had at least one brother.  After the father's death mother remarried, this time an affluent German doctor, who lived in Brazil by the time.

Europe 
PBetween 1899 and 1900 Dina was already a prominent figure of Berlin urning balls. During one of them in 1903 she was met by Magnus Hirschfeld, who described the meeting several times in his writings later. He mentioned her wearing a Parisian red silk evening dress, with laces worth more than 2000 franks. De Paradeda frequented the local that Hirschfeld visited and was raising the interest of the local social circles, so Hirschfeld started the conversation with her.

Dina was described as a woman of many talents, including piano playing, cooking, and hand crafts such as hat decoration. She was also supposed to be a good conversationalist who stroke an interest with her stories from Brazil or Paris, dispelling any initial doubt or distrust caused by her height or low voice. Many sources refer to her tall but very slender figure (152cm of waist circumference) and her elegance in expensive fashion and accessories.

Death circumstances 
Shortly after meeting Hirschfeld de Paradeda travelled to Paris, where she was known as Comtesse de Paradeda, and surrounded herself with material goods, servants and invited people to her refined apartment. Somewhere in Paris she met a 'modest' (as described by Hirschfeld) German teacher Edgar Töpfer, who came there to study French. On 28 October 1906 r. Dina left Paris and moved to Breslau as Töpfer's fiancee, meeting his friends and family and renting a new apartment. She was friendly with the landlord, who left her repaint the apartment and remodel it, and was called "Aunt Didi" by the landlord's daughter.

Despite everyday visits from her fiance, Dina was very jealous of him and his friends, who distrusted and questioned her. Their private investigation of Dina's past found her stepfather, recently returned from Brazil to Germany, and that he had a stepson named Alfred, but not a stepdaughter named Alma.  De Paradeda threatened Töpfer with death in case of breaking the engagement. After finally breaking the engagement, he denounced his ex-fiancee to the police (one insight claims that the denouncement happened only after Dina attempted to break into his apartment). When the commissioner of criminal police arrived at Dina's apartment, the countess remained calm and serious, giving the police officer no reason to intervene. Nevertheless, Dina was distraught by the intervention enough to call her trusted doctor (who was indisposed and sent an assistant). De Paradeda refused the assistant's order to undress and undergo a medical examination. On his insistence, she asked for a moment for herself and disappeared for a moment in another room. After a few minutes she came back, sat down in front of the doctor and, having already announced her readiness to be examined, suddenly fell on the ground and within a minute she was dying in violent convulsions. The commissioner who previously visited the apartment found a stale body and a completely confused physician, who examined the body, revealing it was assigned male at birth.

The story of a "male bride from Breslau" was published in newspapers worldwide, including German language Indiana Tribüne in USA and Poverty Bay Herald in New Zealand. Two books inspired by the countess' story were written: Mein Zimmerherr by Marie Römer, who claimed to be the landlord and to tell the true story, and the fictionalized, loosely inspired by the real events Tagebuch einer männlichen Braut (Diary of a male bride). It is worth noting that Röhmer's book resembles newspaper articles in fragments, which makes her claims to be the landlord debatable.

References 

Category:LGBT people from Brazil
Category:LGBT in Germany
Category:Transgender and transsexual women
Category:1871 births
Category:1906 deaths