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Rudolf Helmut Sauter
Rudolf Helmut Sauter
Born	9 May 1895
Died	12 June 1977; Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Nationality	German; British
Other names	R.H. Sauter
Occupation(s)	Painter, illustrator, printmaker, poet
Spouse	Viola Brookman
Parents	Georg Sauter (father); Lilian Galsworthy (mother);
Relatives	John Galsworthy (uncle); Ada Galsworthy (aunt);

Rudolf Helmut Sauter (9 May 1895^[1] – 12 June 1977)^[2]^[3] was a German born painter, printmaker, illustrator, and poet.^[4] He was the son of artist Georg Sauter and poet and suffragist Lilian Galsworthy, and the nephew and literary executor of John Galsworthy.^[5]^[6]

Early life

Rudolf Sauter was born in 1895.^[7] He was educated at Harrow School,^[4] and later studied art in London and Munich.^[8] Sauter exhibited extensively and internationally.^[9] This included shows in Paris, New York, and South Africa.^[10]

Following the declaration of war with Germany, the British government passed the Aliens Restriction Act.^[9] In December 1915, Georg was interned, and ultimately deported to Germany.^[9] Rudolf was interned in a converted Alexandra Palace^[11]^[9] and in Frith Hill Camp, Surrey.^[12] Letters written to his wife while interned are held today in the collection of the Imperial War Museum.^[10]^[12]

Following the war, Sauter became a naturalized British citizen, something he referred to as "purely formal", having lived in England since he was a year old.^[11]^[13] During World War II acted as an Army Welfare officer, visiting the wives and children of soldiers.^[11]

Rudolf Sauter was close to his uncle John Galsworthy, about whom he wrote a memoir: Galsworthy the Man.^[9] Following the death of Rudolf's mother, Lilian, Rudolf and his wife Viola Sauter (née Brookman) "lived for a long time with Ada and John Galsworthy... and were treated almost as though they were their children".^[5] Sauter was Galsworthy's executor,^[5] and bequeathed a number of his papers to the University of Birmingham on his uncle's death.^[14]

Later life and legacy

During his later life, Rudolf and Viola lived in Stroud, Gloucestershire.^[9] Sauter published three volumes of poetry: Crie du Coeur, A Soothing Wind and A Loving Cup.^[9]

Sauter died in Stroud hospital, at the age of 82.^[9]

In 2022, a book about Sauter's life and work by Jeffrey S. Reznick was published: War and Peace in the Worlds of Rudolf H. Sauter.^[15] This was described as "the first book to examine the creative life and worlds of Rudolf H. Sauter... [revealing] him as a creative figure in his own right who produced an intriguing body of artistic and literary work."^[15] The book was reviewed as "a welcome and overdue biography of an artist coping with the vicissitudes of war".^[11]