Karl M. Baer

Who was Karl M. Baer?

Karl M. Baer was a German-Israeli author, social worker, reformer, suffragette and Zionist. Born female and named Martha Baer he became, in December 1906, one of the first people to undergo sex-change surgery, and one of the first, in January 1907, to gain full legal recognition of his gender identity and to have a new birth certificate issued reflecting his new gender. Baer wrote notes for sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld on his experiences growing up as a girl while feeling inside that he was male. Together they developed these notes into the semi-fictional, semi-autobiographical Aus eines Mannes Mädchenjahren which was published under the pseudonym N.O. Body. Baer also gained the right to marry and did so in October 1907.