Madame Anna Ben-Yusuf was a German Hatmaking and teacher based in Boston and New York City. She wrote The Art of Millinery (1909), one of the first reference books on millinery technique.[ She was the mother of the portrait photographer Zaida Ben-Yusuf.
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Early life
Born Anna Kind in Berlin in around 1845, she married an Algerian man, Mustapha Moussa Ben Youseph Nathan, who lived in Hammersmith, London.[ Chronology of Zaida Ben-Yusuf, 1869-1898 on the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery website, accessed 30 March 2009] They had four daughters - Esther Zeghdda Ben Youseph Nathan, better known as Zaida (1869-1933), Heidi (c.1873-1915), Leila (c.1877-1967) and Pearl (c.1878-1940), before the marriage fell apart.[ Anna and her daughters moved to Ramsgate, England, where she supported her family by working as a governess.][ Her ex-husband remained in London, occasionally giving lectures on Arab culture for the Moslem Mission Society. In 1891, he and his second wife Henrietta Crane, had a daughter, also called Zaida (1891-1967) and a son, Mussa, who died in infancy in 1893.
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Career
During the late 1880s, Anna Ben-Yusuf emigrated to the United States, where by 1891, she had established a Hatmaking's shop on Washington Street in Boston.[Jones, Stephen & ][ Her eldest daughter Zaida also emigrated to the US in 1895, setting up a milliner's at 251 Fifth Avenue, New York City before becoming a successful portrait photographer.][ Zaida published occasional articles on millinery for Harpers Bazaar and the Ladies Home Journal.][ Chronology of Zaida Ben-Yusuf, 1898-1900 on the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery website, accessed 30 March 2009][ Harpers Bazaar, Vol. 30 No. 5, published Jan 30 1897]
From September 1905 to June 1907, Anna Ben-Yusuf was an instructor in millinery at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.[ Chronology of Zaida Ben-Yusuf, 1901-1906 on the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery website, accessed 30 March 2009][ Chronology of Zaida Ben-Yusuf, 1907-1933 on the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery website, accessed 30 March 2009] She resigned in 1907 to set up a school of her own on West 23rd Street.[
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Her book, The Art of Millinery: Practical Lessons for the Artiste and the Amateur was published in 1909. It was one of the first reference books for teaching the art of hat-making in all its aspects, and remains a useful resource for leading contemporary milliners such as Stephen Jones.[ It was formatted as a series of lessons, each dealing with a particular aspect of constructing a hat, treating the fabric, or creating different types of trimming. On a more practical note, it also advised on correct storage, renovating fabrics, and the business side of millinery, and included a glossary of terms used in millinery.]
Books
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1909 — The Art of Millinery
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1992 — Edwardian Hats: The Art of Millinery
Death
Anna Ben-Yusuf died in New York on 8 December 1909.[
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