Marriage
In 1948, while working at the South African Institute of Medical Research in Johannesburg, Leda met Hans Troedson, a Swede who would become her husband. They married in Cape Town at the Dutch Reformed Church in Three Anchor Bay, with her mother and brother present. Their wedding was photographed by Anne Fischer.
Leda and Hans remained married for around twenty years and had no children. It is understood that Leda suffered a miscarriage early in the marriage and was thereafter unable to have children.
In the later years of the marriage, there are indications that Leda began to feel drawn towards women. In late 1967, Hans sued for divorce, citing ‘malicious desertion’ as the cause of the breakdown of the marriage. A settlement was reached, and in 1970 a final decree of divorce was granted in the Supreme Court of South Africa, Witwatersrand Local Division.
Leda’s emergence into her lesbian identity took place within a conservative social and family world, and was not without difficulty. This period marked a profound change in her personal life.