My story begins with my great-grandmother on my father’s side, Christiane Grautoff, who has an incredible history.  She was a beautiful young actress from a big, prosperous German family during World War II.  At the age of 16, Christiane cut ties with her family and fled Germany to London with the famous Socialist-leaning playwright, Ernst Toller.  After his suicide, Christiane had a path that took her through Europe and to New York City, where my grandmother, Andrea - her only child and daughter of Lenin’s secretary - was born.  In the late 1940’s, the winds took her to Mexico City, where the country was experiencing a cultural renaissance in the wake of the Mexican Revolution.  All the greatest writers, artists, and thinkers of the time were pouring into Mexico. It was there that my great-grandmother finally found the home where she would live the rest of her life, and where my Mexican heritage took root.  With her long blonde hair and big blue eyes, my grandmother stood out.  Her household was always filled with artists and writers, and these people influenced her life and her thinking.  When my father and his siblings came along, Andrea passed to them her unique blend of “Mexicanness,” and instilled traditions that my great-grandmother had passed to Andrea in her amazing life’s path.  The book, translated as The Goddess and her Socialist” is a fascinating artifact as it sheds light on the Mexican that I am.

– Leo Gout

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more