Zweig, Stefan

Zweig, Stefan, b. Vienna, Nov. 28, 1881, d. Petropolis near Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Feb. 23, 1942, (committed suicide together with his second wife), narrative writer, dramatist, poet, essayist, translator. First married to Friderike Maria Zweig. Born into a Jewish bourgeois family; studied philosophy, German and Romance languages and culture at the Universities of Vienna and Berlin.Travelled throughout the world until 1914; during World War I worked at the Vienna War Press Agency; a confirmed pacifist, he moved to Switzerland in 1917 but returned to Austria to live in Salzburg from 1919 to 1934. Went into exile to London in reaction to harrassment during the political unrest of February 1934; became a citizen of Great Britain in 1940; moved to Brazil in 1941.

Z. regarded himself as a cosmopolitan and European but still clung to the traditional values of pre-Republican Austria. His works are characterized by a pacifist and humanistic way of thinking. Adhering to the styles of Viennese Impressionism and New Romanticism, he achieved his first success with poetry (e.g. "Silberne Saiten", 1901); influenced by the teachings of S. Freud, he turned to writing novels on the sexual confusion of the bourgeoisie of that time (e.g. "Brennendes Geheimnis", 1913; "Amok. Novelle einer Leidenschaft", 1922; "Conflicts" ("Verwirrung der Gefühle"), 1927). Z. rose to international fame with his biographic novels which, in contrast to the then current heroic biographies, underlined the heroism of characters who adhered to their personal convictions (e.g. "Marie Antoinette", 1932; "Triumph und Tragik des Erasmus von Rotterdam", 1934; "Maria Stuart", 1935; "Magellan", 1938); the collection of essays called "The Tide of Fortune" ("Sternstunden der Menschheit"), written in 1927, became one of the bestsellers of the time.

Further works: Poetry: Die frühen Kränze, 1906; Die gesammelten Gedichte, 1924. - Novels: Beware of Pity (Ungeduld des Herzens), 1939; Rausch der Verwandlung, published posthumously, ed. by K. Beck, 1982; Clarissa. Ein Romanentwurf, published posthumously, ed. by K. Beck, 1992. - Biographies and essays: E. Verhaeren, 1910; Three Masters (Drei Meister. Balzac, Dickens, Dostojewski), 1920; Romain Rolland, 1921; Master Builders (Der Kampf mit dem Dämon. Hölderlin. Kleist. Nietzsche), 1925; Drei Dichter ihres Lebens, 1928; Joseph Fouché, 1929; Die Heilung durch den Geist, 1931; Castellio gegen Calvin oder Ein Gewissen gegen die Gewalt, 1936; Amerigo, 1944; Balzac, 1946. - Narratives: Der Zwang, 1920; Die Augen des ewigen Bruders, 1922; Angst, 1925; Kleine Chronik, 1929; Schachnovelle, 1941. - Dramas: Tersites, 1907; Das Haus am Meer, 1912; Der verwandelte Komödiant, 1913; Jeremias, 1917; Legende eines Lebens, 1919; Quiproquo, 1928 (with A. Lernet-Holenia); Das Lamm des Armen, 1929. - Autobiographic writings: Begegnungen mit Menschen, Büchern, Städten, 1937; Die Welt von Gestern, 1944. - Editions: Complete works published in several volumes, ed. by K. Beck, from 1981; Tagebücher, ed. by K. Beck, 1984; Briefwechsel mit Bahr, Freud, Rilke und Schnitzler, ed. by J. B. Berlin et al., 1987; Briefe, ed. by K. Beck, 4 vols., 1995ff.; Die Monotonisierung der Welt. Aufsätze und Vorträge, ed. by V. Michels, 1988.

Literature: J. Strelka, S. Z. Freier Geist der Menschlichkeit, 1981; D. A. Prater, S. Z. Das Leben eines Ungeduldigen, 1981; D. A. Prater and V. Michels (eds.), S. Z. Leben und Werk im Bild, 1981; H. Müller, S. Z., 1988; T. Haenel, S. Z., Psychologe aus Leidenschaft, 1995; I. Schwamborn (ed.), Die letzte Partie. S. Z. Leben und Werk in Brasilien, 1999; S. Schmid-Bortenschlager (ed.), S. Z. lebt, 1999; NÖB.