Was Claude Cahun a trans man or woman? Find out below as we discuss her gender-related talks alongside her career.
Born as Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob, Claude Cahun was a French Surrealist photographer, sculptor and writer.
She took her name as Claude Cahun in 1914.
Cahun is best known as a writer and self-portraitist who cemented herself in different performative personae and even genders in her creations.
While she portrayed herself as a masculine man in one creation, she adopted the role of a feminine woman in another.
All these variations in her self portrait writings and arts have created confusion regarding her gender among the people.
Now, as people celebrate her 127th birthday on October 25, the talks of Claude Cahun’s gender has once again emerged online.
In fact, some people think of Cahun as a trans man while others view her as a trans woman. So, what is the exact truth?
Fact Check: Was Claude Cahun Trans Man Or Woman? Gender Revealed
Amidst the confusion of Claude Cahun’s gender, she is believed to have been a trans man.
On the other hand, Cahun never really liked being classified as a man or a woman.
She even wrote that neuter is the thing that suits her in Disavowals as mentioned in her Wikipedia.
Neuter or Queer or also known as non-binary represents the people who do not identify themselves as either male or female.
Regardless, all the articles and even Wikipedia refers to her as ‘She’ which gives the idea that Claude was a trans man who was born as a woman but turned into a man.
On top of that, Cahun was romantically together with a woman, her creative partner Marcel Moore.
In conclusion, despite Cahun did not classify herself on the basis of gender, she was a trans man.
Claude Cahun Death Cause
Claude Cahun’s death cause was several health problems that she got as a result of harsh treatment in jail.
Claude and her partner Moore resided in Jersey which was taken in control by Germany during World War II.
The couple fiercely fought against the German by putting out several ani-German fliers and banners.
Followed by several years of protest and movements, Cahun and Moore were arrested and sentenced to death in 1944.
However, the death sentence never took place as the place was freed from German capture in 1945 and Claude was eventually released.
Nevertheless, she suffered a lot of punishments and harsh treatment while she was in the prison.
After around a decade of the battle against the side effects of harsh treatments, Claude died in 1954.
Hence, the actual cause of death of Claude Cahun was the side effects of harsh treatment during her time in jail.