Magnus Hirschfeld: Pioneer of sex research whose heritage stretches all the way to Australia

Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld was a doctor and sexologist. In 1919 he founded the Institute of Sexology in Berlin — the first of its kind. His theories on sexuality and the innate and natural diversity of gender identities were progressive. He is still regarded as the father of the first homosexual civil rights movement.

Magnus Hirschfeld published the first Periodical Of Sexology and the first Statistics On Human Sexual Behavior. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

We're talking to his great-niece Gaby Cohen. The 86-year-old lives in Melbourne and is very proud to be related to Hirschfeld, although not much was known about him in her family. We also talk to the managing director of the Magnus Hirschfeld Society in Berlin, Ralf Dose, about the continuing importance of Hirschfeld's work.

Gaby Cohen flüchtete als Baby mit ihren Eltern vor den Nationalsozialisten aus Berlin. Heute lebt sie in Melbourne und ist stolz, mit Magnus Hirschfeld verwandt zu sein. Source: Supplied / Peter Cohen

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