“We Nudists Lead a Double Life”: The Double Life of Enrico S. Molnar

ABSTRACT

Nudism, the social practice of being nude in community, has long been a site of curiosity and suspicion. Various authors have commented on the “double life” that a nudist leads, one wherein the nudist hides the nudist part of their lives from the non‐nudists around them. The reasons for keeping this part of their lives hidden are diverse, ranging from professional risk to personal choice. Thus, the nudist is caught between these two worlds. In this article, I explore the case of Enrico S. Molnar, a prolific writer of nudist materials, who wrote under various pseudonyms. Unlike others, who might see the pseudonym as a falsehood, I argue for the pseudonym as a way of living an ‘unlived life.’ I argue that the double life is a key trope in nudist writing and that the pseudonym presents an important line of investigation for a scholar engaging with nudist history.