“Make myself another vocabulary, brighten the silver of the mirror, blink an eye, swindle myself by means of a fluke muscle; cheat with my skeleton, correct my mistakes, divide myself in order to conquer, multiply myself in order to assert myself; briefly, to play with ourselves can change nothing.”

– Claude Cahun

The first decision to be made when writing about Claude Cahun is which pronouns to use. There are convincing arguments to be made for both she/her/hers and they/them/theirs; she/her/hers because that is what was used for Cahun when they were alive and used themself; they/them/theirs because of their oft-discussed detachment from being a woman or a man. The decision of they/them/theirs was made because that is the appropriate choice when one is unsure of what pronouns to use. This was the first question that was asked in the course of writing this article, but not nearly the last.

There are some clear things about Claude Cahun. They were born in France in 1894 to a prominent Jewish father and an anti-Semitic mother who struggled with mental health issues throughout Cahun's life. When their mother was admitted to a psychiatric facility, Claude went to live with their grandmother, Mathilde Cahun.

It is very likely because of Mathilde that Claude Cahun was able to gain a strong connection to their Jewish identity, as their father was not always practicing and their mother was not Jewish. While this connection grew, they continued to experience anti-Semitism, leading them to attend a private school in order to avoid discrimination. In 1909, they met Marcel Moore, in a moment they both compared to a strike of lightning.

Such a close relationship between two societally viewed "women" was legitimized eight years later in 1919 when Cahun's father remarried to Moore's mother. Looking back, many have suggested that there was an incestuous element to their relationship, failing to recognize that their relationship began several years prior to their parents' marriage. This creates an interesting dynamic; their position as step-siblings allowed them to move in together without suspicion in their own time but is now used to subtly cast a shadow over their relationship.

Cahun, who was beginning to explore photography, also found an artistic partner in Moore. Together in 1919, both took on gender-neutral names. The choice of "Claude Cahun" was particularly interesting because it was distinctly Jewish in a time when many were hiding indicators of their Jewish identity due to rising anti-Semitism in Europe, of which Cahun was aware.

Writing about this choice, they said:

“I always used a pseudonym to write, the name of my obscure Jewish relatives (Cahun) with whom I felt more affinity.”

Dr. Michelle Gewurtz examines this choice, writing:

“Deliberately choosing not to write under the name Schwob was an attempt to distance [themself] from [their] illustrious father and uncle. Yet [they] did not dissociate [themself] from [their] Jewish identity, but in fact, underscored it. Considering that anti-Semitism was more prevalent in France at that time in the wake of the Dreyfus affair, this was a bold move. Writing to a friend in 1950, [Claude Cahun] stated that [they] took the name of [their] 'obscure' Jewish relatives, in contrast to [their] more 'famous' Jewish relatives: [their] uncle, the renowned Symbolist writer Marcel Schwob, [their] father Maurice Schwob, and [their] grandfather Georges Schwob, who were prominent publishers in France and editors of Le Phare de la Loire. The distinction here was between 'obscure' and 'famous,' while the Jewishness remained constant.”

In the end, they chose to connect themself to their grandmother rather than their father, even though their father's fame might have propelled their own career further. Though they are remembered primarily for their photography, they viewed themself as a writer. In 1925, they published "Heroines," a series of monologues based upon female fairy tale characters, religious figures, and Greek gods, including Salome, Delilah, and Judith.

Later, they would go on to write an autobiography, which is where both the clarity and confusion regarding their life and identity comes from. Within their writing, there is a trove of evidence that they were transgender. Given access to today's language, it's very likely they would have identified as somewhere on the non-binary spectrum.

While dysphoria is not a necessary element of being transgender, their clear and constant reference to feeling disconnected from their body fits well into the modern transgender narrative, with quotes like:

"I wish to change skins, to tear mine off."

“In front of the mirror, on a day full of enthusiasm, you put your mask on too heavily; it bites your skin. After the party, you lift up a corner to see…a failed decal. With horror, you see that the flesh and its mask have become inseparable. Quickly, with a little saliva, you regulate the bandage on the wound.”

“Make myself another vocabulary, brighten the silver of the mirror, blink an eye, swindle myself by means of a fluke muscle; cheat with my skeleton, correct my mistakes, divide myself in order to conquer, multiply myself in order to assert myself; briefly, to play with ourselves can change nothing.”

They consistently reference an ever-changing nature to their identity, which gives weight to the possibility that they may have identified as genderfluid if given modern language. They also discuss removal from gender as a whole. The following quote is often referenced in these discussions:

“Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me.”

This quote could be further evidence of the genderfluid theory or an indication that they may have identified as agender, which is an identity that is described by A to Z Soup as:

“Someone who is without gender, or personally rejects the concept of gender for themselves.”

Unfortunately, this is all undercut by the fact that they state outright that the autobiography where much of this evidence comes from is not entirely based in fact, writing within the first page:

“Should I then burden myself with all the paraphernalia of facts, stones, cords delicately cut, precipices ... it doesn’t interest me at all”

That being said, there is also evidence outside of the book. Photos that consistently play with the idea of gender specifically in relation to Cahun, writing outside of the autobiography that gives similar indications, and the knowledge that while they refuse the burden of facts about their life within their autobiography, that doesn’t immediately mean that it should be dismissed as a fabrication.

Another question appears: how should they be identified? While their discussion of disconnect from their assigned gender is, without a doubt, a potential indication that they were somewhere outside of the binary, it also could be something influenced by the narrative around queerness at the time.

The popular theory of queer scholars at the time was that someone with same-gender attraction could be defined as a third sex. This theory was something that Claude was exposed to, as they translated some of Havelock Ellis’s work which explicitly dealt with this possibility.

It is entirely possible that they were influenced by this and saw their attraction to Marcel as evidence they weren’t a woman. But, even if this was the case, does it change their right to self-identify?

In the end, the argument is an interesting one but is always trumped by the simple unalienable right of every queer person to choose the words they use to describe their identity. In this case, that word is neuter.

Then, of course, comes the matter of Marcel Moore. The reasons behind using they/them/their pronouns for Moore are similar. The difference between these situations is the lack of information about Marcel’s possible gender identity.

Though Moore is thought to be behind the lens in almost all of Claude’s photos and was a graphic designer, there is less discussion or art made regarding their gender. Their lack of art about being outside the gender binary doesn't mean it wasn't their experience; in some ways, it makes it less complicated.

They changed their name to one that was neither masculine nor feminine, so there is no good reason to force either of those identities onto them. Considering how close Moore and Cahun were and how much Cahun discussed gender variance, it was unlikely that Moore didn’t understand the possible implications that came with changing their name. It becomes possible that both of these people may have identified outside of the binary.

While none of these answers are perfect or without legitimate rebuttals, these answers are as good as any with the information available.

Through the writing of their book, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore were also taking photos that played with ideas of gender, Jewish identity, family, and leaned heavily into surrealism. The two also began holding artistic salons in their shared apartment in 1922. Later in 1932, Cahun joined the Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires. This group was formed because of a shared belief that art could directly impact the world and a desire to use that impact to fight the rising tide of fascism.

Through this group, Cahun met André Breton and René Crevel and began associating with fellow surrealists. They became one of the few people in the scene who wasn’t a man, though they were later remembered as one in one of their fellow artist's books.

As their connections to the artistic community grew, they remained anchored to Marcel. The majority of their photos were a shared project made for a private collection and not intended to be displayed, as Cahun had always thought of themself as a writer.

In 1937 Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore cut off many connections because of the war and ran to Jersey to avoid anti-Semitic violence. Upon arrival, they went back to using their birth names and laid low until the Germans took Jersey.

Moore and Cahun set to work. They used their experience with art and disguising their genders to create works that spread misinformation, seeds of rebellion and implied that there was a large-scale resistance happening when in reality, it was just the two of them.

Though some of their work was based on confusing the soldiers, they also translated and transcribed BBC transmissions into German, detailing the war crimes that were being committed. They would have these translations on pieces of paper that they would slip into soldier's pockets, matchboxes, and anywhere a soldier may stumble across it and possibly read it.

An investigation was started, and Nazi authorities believed there to be a group of people doing this. When the two were discovered to be behind the actions, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore were sentenced to death. Fortunately, the sentence was never carried out because the island of Jersey was liberated from German rule only a year later.

Claude took a picture upon their release in front of the camps with a Nazi eagle pin between their teeth.

Unfortunately, the prison caused Claude lasting health problems that led to their death in 1954. Marcel died by suicide in 1972, and the two were buried together.

During their imprisonment, Nazis destroyed much of Claude’s work, and after Marcel’s death, what was left wasn’t discovered for some time. In their own life, Claude and Marcel’s art was never very successful, but neither of them seemed to mind. Claude had never wanted to be famous and thought that most of their work and legacy would disappear with time.

By all logic, it should have. Much has been erased by the Nazi genocide, art and artist alike. Add a queer identity that has been stifled from historical narrative time and again and no real attempt on either Marcel or Claude’s part to promote themselves in that way, it is just short of a miracle that they are remembered, that their work remains.

Even now, their photography is displayed, showing that even in surrealism where at that time people who weren’t men were often relegated to the role of muse, there was amazing work being made by people who weren’t men. Their writing gives proof of gender expression outside of the binary dating far enough back to disprove the idea that non-binary identities are new and will fade.

[Disclaimer: some of the sources may contain triggering material]

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