Beate Gordon

GEDCOM Note

"The Only Woman in the Room" is a vivid and very personal account of one woman's life in Europe, prewar Japan, and the United States. As the daughter of renowned Russian pianist Leo Sirota, Beate Gordon grew up in the cosmopolitan world of the concert tour, then settled in Japan in the 1930s.

The only child of a renowned Russian Jewish pianist, Gordon grew up in the cosmopolitan world of the concert tour, then--fleeing her home in Vienna with the onset of Nazism--settled with her parents in Japan of the 1930s. She worked in General MacArthur's headquarters; helped draft the women's rights section in Japan's new Constitution; and later carved out a career bringing to America some of the more exotic performing arts of Asia.