AJR Unveils Blue Plaque for Cosman and Keller in Hampstead, London

We are delighted to announce the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in honour of artist and illustrator, Milein Cosman and musician and writer, Hans Keller on Monday 25 November 2019. Guests at the ceremony included Milein and Hans’ niece Ena Blyth, as well as current owners of the home, Philippe Sands and Natalia Schiffrin. Dignitaries included His Excellency The Austrian Ambassador Michael Zimmermann and Head of the Cultural section at the German embassy Ralf Teepe.

Milein Cosman was born into a Jewish family in 1921 and grew up in Düsseldorf, attended school in Switzerland and moved to England in 1939 to attend the Slade School of Fine Art in Oxford. On moving to London in 1945 she established herself as a freelance artist, working for the Radio Times and various other national and international publications. In 1947 she started to work for the Radio Times where she met and later married the writer and broadcaster, Hans Keller and they settled in Hampstead, London.

Hans was born in Vienna in 1919 and lived with his family in Döbling until the Anschluss forced him to immigrate to London in 1938. After the war he quickly made his name as a highly original musical writer, notable particularly for his combination of music and psycho-analysis, and his polemical defence of the musicians he most admired. From 1959 to 1979 he held a variety of senior positions at the BBC, for which he was a frequent and popular broadcaster. He died of motor neurone disease in 1985.

This extract was taken from an interview Milein gave in 2005 to the AJR Refugee Voices Testimony Archive recalling her home and living in Hampstead. To view the entire testimony visit: https://www.ajrrefugeevoices.org.uk/lives-in-focus

“Home for me is Hampstead and the Heath. Just when I met Hans, I had secured something I had longed for, for years, a little ruin of a little house, it was actually a stable, a donkey stable at the turn of the century almost bang on the Heath in Willow Road. It was raining through the skylights but it was absolutely wonderful. In those days, Hampstead was truly like a little village.”

Philippe Sands and Natalia Schiffrin, said, “Living in a house once occupied by two such remarkable characters is a special happiness. As a couple and individually, Milein Cosman and Hans Keller contributed hugely to the arts and musical heritage of Britain and Europe, so it’s entirely fitting and joyous that their former home should receive a plaque to honour them forever.”

AJR Trustee, Frank Harding, who devised the plaque scheme, said: “This plaque commemorates the lives of two remarkable Jewish refugees who lived here. They both contributed not only to the local community but to the very fabric of British society. This is the 12th plaque in AJR’s scheme and we believe that as well as being instructive and informative, the plaques serve as a reminder of the past while perpetuating the memory of the people being honoured.”

The Milein Cosman and Hans Keller plaque will be added to the interactive map on the AJR website which shows the location of all blue plaques, with information and photographs about each one. https://ajr.positive-dedicated.net/ajr-plaque-scheme/