Writer Lyon Feuchtwanger: biography, creativity

Lyon Feuchtwanger is considered the founder of a new literary trend in historical romance. In his works containing reflections on the fate of mankind at different stages of its development, there are clear parallels with the events taking place in the modern world. No less interesting is the biography of the writer, in which there are also service in the army, and "book auto-da-fefe", and imprisonment in a concentration camp, and much more.

early years

Lyon Feuchtwanger was born on July 7, 1884 in the German city of Munich, to the family of the wealthy manufacturer Zygmund Feuchtwanger and Johanna Bodenheimer, and was the eldest of nine children. His father and mother were orthodox Jews, and the boy from his youth received deep knowledge about the religion and culture of his people. After graduating from school, Lyon Feuchtwanger entered the University of Munich, where he studied in the specialties of "literature" and "philosophy." Then he moved to Berlin to take a course in German philology and Sanskrit.

In 1907, Lion Feuchtwanger received his Ph.D., defending a thesis dedicated to the work of Heinrich Heine "Bacharach rabbi".

Carier start

In 1908, Feuchtwanger founded the cultural magazine Zerkalo. This publication had a short life and after the issue of 15 issues ceased to exist due to financial problems.

In 1912, a future well-known writer married the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant, Marthe Leffler. And on the day of the wedding it was already impossible to hide from the guests that the bride was pregnant. A few months later Martha gave birth to a daughter who died shortly after birth.

In November 1914, Feuchtwanger was drafted into the army as a reservist. However, soon it turned out that he was not doing well with his health, and the writer was commissar. After the war, he met Brecht, with whom he had a friendship that lasted until Feuchtwanger's death.

Biography until 1933

Lyon Feuchtwanger was one of the first to notice the danger posed by National Socialism. Back in 1920, he already in satirical form introduced the visions of Agasphere, in which he described the manifestations of anti-Semitism. In addition, he gave an accurate description of "brown Munich" in the novel "Success", in which the main character Rupert Kutzner clearly traces the traits of Adolf Hitler.

After some of Feuchtwanger's works were published outside of Germany, he became quite popular in many countries of Europe. As a result, many universities began to invite him to lecture.

In November 1932, he was in London. There he had to stay a few months, and then go to the US, where he was also going to give lectures. Thus, at the time the Nazis came to power, Lyon Feuchtwanger was outside Germany. Having listened to the arguments of friends, the writer decided to settle in the French town of Sanary-sur-Mer, where there was already a small colony of German immigrants who had fled because of persecution for political or racial reasons. Since the English translations of Feuchtwanger's books were published in large editions, he led a comfortable life together with his wife Marta, who was his faithful assistant in all matters.

Biography of Feuchtwanger before the Second World War

Meanwhile in Germany the name of Feuchtwanger was in the list of authors whose books were to be burned, he himself was deprived of citizenship, and his property was confiscated.

The hostile attitude towards National Socialism became the reason for the writer's interest in the USSR. Stalinist propaganda could not miss such a chance and invited Feuchtwanger to visit Moscow, as well as to make a trip around the country in order to see with her own eyes what successes the world's first "State of Workers and Peasants" achieved. As part of the visit to the USSR, the writer even interviewed the Leader of the Peoples.

Returning to France, Lyon Feuchtwanger, whose books in the Soviet Union were immediately published in multi-million copies, published his conversation with Stalin. In addition, he wrote a book "Moscow. 1937 ", in which he shared his vision of life in the USSR with European readers. On his pages, he constantly made comparisons between what he was shown and the state of affairs in Germany. At the same time, the comparisons were mostly not in favor of the latter.

The escape

In 1940, German troops entered France. Lyon Feuchtwanger as a former German citizen was interned by the French in a camp located in the town of Le Mille. As the Wehrmacht army made progress, it became clear that most prisoners would face death if they were in the occupied territory. Then some of them were transported to a camp near Nyima. There, Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife were helped by the staff of the American Embassy. They got them false documents and, disguising the writer in a woman's dress, were taken out of the country. In this case, Lyon and his wife had to go through a lot of adventures, since at first they were hiding in Marseilles for a long time, and then were forced to make their way through Spain and Portugal.

Life in the USA

In 1943, Lion Feuchtwanger, whose books were extremely popular in the United States, settled in Villa Aurora in California. There he worked hard and created his most interesting works. In addition, thanks to the large fees paid by book publishers and studios that screened his novels, Feuchtwanger collected a sumptuous library of over 20,000 volumes.

If the Nazis hated the writer from racial considerations, then in the post-war US he was suspected of sympathy for the Communists. During this period Feuchtwanger's ability as a predictor was once again manifested, since long before the beginning of the "Witch Hunt" he wrote the play "Distraction of the minds, or the Devil in Boston", in which he spoke out against the Cold War and methods of conducting it.

last years of life

Despite the fact that the writer Lyon Feuchtwanger was not going to return to Germany, thanks to his anti-fascist views, he enjoyed immense popularity in the GDR. In 1953 he was even awarded the main prize of this country in the field of literature.

In 1957, the writer was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The treatment of Feuchtwanger was attracted by the best doctors of the time who had performed several surgical operations for him. Attempts to cope with the disease were unsuccessful, and the writer died in 1958 from internal bleeding.

Pre-war creativity

In the early years of his writing career, Lyon Feuchtwanger created many plays, which he himself assessed as mediocre enough. Following this, he was interested in writing publicistic articles and reviews, which allowed us to look at our own creativity. During the same period, Feuchtwanger first thought about the possibility of creating a realistic historical novel, which was inspired by the works of the brothers Mann.

At the same time, although the subjects were related to different epochs, they were united by a view of modernity through the prism of history. At the same time, the works of Lyon Feuchtwanger, written after the First World War and the Bavarian revolution, are devoid of aesthetics and are close to realism. They often reflect the personal tragedy of a humanistic personality in a brutal society. In particular, the first novel written by Lyon Feuchtwanger - "The Ugly Duchess" is devoted to this topic.

The next work of the writer was the novel "Jewish Suess", which is devoted to events taking place in Germany in the 18th century. He brought him worldwide fame, and at the same time he was accused of both anti-Semitism and Jewish nationalism. Both of these only spurred the writer's interest in the history of his people. As a result, a trilogy appeared about Josephus Flavia, which was published in many countries.

True to his desire to reflect modernity, pushing it back in time, after forced emigration to France, the writer created the novel "False Nero", in the main hero of which many learned the Führer.

Creativity in the post-war years

After the resettlement in the US, the writer continued to work extensively and actively. In particular, in 1947 the novel "Foxes in the Vineyard" appeared. Lyon Feuchtwanger described in it the events taking place "in the backstage" of the War of Independence. This was his first postwar work, in which many saw parallels with the organization of Lend-Lease.

Four years later, the writer wrote his most famous work - "Goya, or the Hard Way of Cognition." Lyon Feuchtwanger described in it the life and work of the famous Spanish artist. The novel was a huge success worldwide and was repeatedly screened.

Even in the last year of life Feuchtwanger continued to create a seriously ill patient. From morning till evening he dictated to the stenographer "Spanish Ballad" about the love of King Alfonso of Spain to the commoner Fermoza.