Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n- Bohemian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

, playwright, and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

whose career spanned

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the Interwar period, and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He is primarily known as the author of ''

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh ''The Forty Days of Musa Dagh'' (german: Die vierzig Tage des Musa Dagh) is a 1933 novel by Austrian-Bohemian writer Franz Werfel based on events that took place in 1915, during the second year of World War I and at the beginning of the Armenia ...

'' (1933, English tr. 1934, 2012), a novel based on events that took place during the Armenian genocide of 1915, and '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1941), a novel about the life and visions of the French Catholic saint Bernadette Soubirous, which was made into a Hollywood film of the same name.

Life and career

Born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

(then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods, Rudolf Werfel. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner. His two sisters were Hanna (born 1896) and Marianne Amalie (born 1899). His family was Jewish. As a child, Werfel was raised by his Czech Catholic governess, Barbara Šimůnková, who often took him to mass in Prague's main cathedral. Like the children of other progressive German-speaking Jews in Prague, Werfel was educated at a Catholic school run by the Piarists, a teaching order that allowed for a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

to instruct Jewish students for their Bar Mitzvahs. This, along with his governess's influence, gave Werfel an early interest (and expertise) in Catholicism, which soon branched out to other faiths, including

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, such that his fiction, as well as his nonfiction, provides some insight into comparative religion. Werfel began writing at an early age and, by 1911, had published his first book of poems, ''Der Weltfreund'', which can be translated as "the friend to the world" as well as philanthropist, humanitarian, and the like. By this time, Werfel had befriended other German Jewish writers who frequented Prague's , chief among them Max Brod and

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...

, and his poetry was praised by such critics as Karl Kraus, who published Werfel's early poems in Kraus's journal, ''Die Fackel'' (The Torch). In 1912, Werfel moved to Leipzig, where he became an editor for Kurt Wolff's new publishing firm, where Werfel championed and edited Georg Trakl's first book of poetry. While he lived in Germany, Werfel's milieu grew to include Else Lasker-Schüler, Martin Buber, Rainer Maria Rilke, among other German-language writers, poets, and intellectuals in the first decades of the twentieth century. With the outbreak of World War I, Werfel served in the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Russian front"Franz Werfel", U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
/ref> as a telephone operator. His duties both exposed him to the vicissitudes of

total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-com ...

as well as provided him with enough of a haven to continue writing

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

poems, ambitious plays, and letters voluminously. His eclectic mix of

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

, confessionalism, autobiography, as well as mythology and religiosity developed further during this time. His poems and plays ranged from scenes of ancient Egypt (notably the monotheism of Akhenaton) to occult allusions (Werfel had participated in séances with his friends Brod and Kafka) and incorporate a parable from the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

in the poem "Jesus and the Carrion Path". His bias for Christian subjects, as well as his antipathy for Zionism, eventually alienated many of his Jewish friends and readers, including early champions such as Karl Kraus. Others, however, stood by him, including Martin Buber, who published a sequence of poems from Werfel's wartime manuscript, ''Der Gerichtstag'' (Judgment Day, published in 1919) in his monthly journal, ''Der Jude'' (''The Jew''). and wrote of Werfel in his prefatory remark:

Since I was first moved by his poems, I have opened (knowing well, I should say, it's a problem) the gates of my invisible garden .e.,_an_imaginarium.html" ;"title="imaginarium.html" ;"title=".e., an imaginarium">.e., an imaginarium">imaginarium.html" ;"title=".e., an imaginarium">.e., an imaginariumto him, and now he can do nothing for all eternity that would bring me to banish him from it. Compare, if you will, a real person to an anecdotal one, a late book to an earlier, the one you see to you yourself; but I am not putting a value on a poet, only recognizing that he is one—and the way he is one.

In the summer of 1917, Werfel left the frontline for the Military Press Bureau in Vienna, where he joined other notable Austrian writers serving as propagandists, among them Robert Musil, Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Franz Blei. Through the latter, Werfel met and fell in love with Alma Mahler, widow of Gustav Mahler, the former lover of the painter Oskar Kokoschka, and the wife of the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Walter Gropius, then serving in the Imperial German Army on the Western Front. Alma, who was also a composer, had already set one of Werfel's poems to music, reciprocated despite Werfel being much younger, shorter, and having Jewish features that she, being both anti-Semitic and attracted to Jewish men, initially found distasteful. Their love affair culminated in the premature birth of a son, Martin, in August 1918. Martin, who was given the surname of Gropius, died in May of the following year. Despite attempts to save his marriage to Alma, with whom he had a young daughter, Manon, Gropius reluctantly agreed to a divorce in 1920. Ironically, Alma refused to marry Werfel for the next nine years. However, Alma, more so than with her first two husbands and lovers, lent herself to the development of Werfel's career and influenced it in such a way that he became an accomplished playwright and novelist as well as poet. They married on 6 July 1929. Schillerpark 20

In April 1924, ''Verdi – Roman der Oper'' (Novel of the Opera) was published by Zsolnay Verlag, establishing Werfel's reputation as a novelist. In 1926, Werfel was awarded the Grillparzer Prize by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and in Berlin,

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pr ...

performed his play ''Juarez and Maximilian'' (depicting the struggle in 1860's

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

between the Republican leader Benito Juárez and the French-backed Emperor Maximilian). By the end of the decade, Werfel had become one of the most important and established writers in German and Austrian literature and had already merited one full-length critical biography. Werfel's journey (with his wife Alma) in 1930, to British ruled Palestine , and his encounter with the Armenian refugee community in Jerusalem, inspired his novel ''

'' which drew world attention to the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman government. Werfel lectured on this subject across Germany. The Nazi newspaper '' Das Schwarze Korps'' denounced him as a propagandist of "alleged Turkish horrors perpetrated against the Armenians". The same newspaper, suggesting a link between the Armenian and the later Jewish genocide, condemned "America's Armenian Jews for promoting in the U.S.A. the sale of Werfel's book". Werfel was forced to leave the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and la ...

in 1933. His books were burned by the Nazis. Werfel left Austria after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

in 1938 and went to France, where they lived in a fishing village near Marseille. Visitors to their home at this time included Bertolt Brecht and

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

. After the German invasion and occupation of France during World War II, and the deportation of French Jews to the Nazi concentration camps, Werfel had to flee again. With the assistance of Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, he and his wife narrowly escaped the Nazi regime, finding shelter for five weeks in the pilgrimage town of Lourdes. He also received much help and kindness from the Catholic orders that staffed the shrine. He vowed to write about the experience and, safe in the United States, he published '' The Song of Bernadette'' in 1941. Fry organized a secret crossing over the Pyrenees on foot. Assisted by Justus Rosenberg, they went to Madrid and then traveled on to Portugal. They stayed in Monte Estoril, at the Grande Hotel D'Itália, between 8 September and 4 October 1940. On the same day they checked out, they boarded the ''S.S. Nea Hellas'' headed for New York City, arriving on 13 October. Werfel and his family settled in Los Angeles, where they met other German and Austrian emigrants, such as Mann, Reinhardt, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. In southern California, Werfel wrote his final play, ''Jacobowsky and the Colonel'' (''Jacobowsky und der Oberst'') which was made into the 1958 film '' Me and the Colonel'' starring Danny Kaye;

Giselher Klebe Giselher Wolfgang Klebe (28 June 19255 October 2009) was a German composer, and an academic teacher. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, all based on literary works, eight symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano work ...

's opera '' Jacobowsky und der Oberst'' (1965) is also based on this play. Before his death, he completed the first draft of his last novel ''Star of the Unborn'' (''Stern der Ungeborenen''), which was published posthumously in 1946. ZentralfriedhofWerfelFranz

Franz Werfel died of heart failure in Los Angeles in 1945 and was interred there in the Rosedale Cemetery. However, his body was returned in 1975 to Vienna for reburial in the

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

Honours and awards

* 1926

Grillparzer Prize The Franz Grillparzer Prize was a literary award, named after the writer Franz Grillparzer. It was established in 1872, shortly after his death, by his lover, Katharina Fröhlich. After her death in 1879, the award was continued by a donation to t ...

* 1927 Czechoslovak State Award * 1930 Schiller Prize * 1937

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 1949 Naming of Werfelstrasse in Hernals (Vienna) * 1975

Grave of honor An ''Ehrengrab'' (English: 'grave of honor') is a distinction granted by certain German, Swiss and Austrian cities to some of their citizens for extraordinary services or achievements in their lifetimes. If there are no descendants or instituti ...

(german: Ehrengrab) in the Zentralfriedhof (Vienna) * 1990 Stamp Austria, Franz Werfel 1890–1945 * 1995 Stamp Germany, Franz Werfel, 50th anniversary of Werfel's death * 1995 Stamp Armenia, Franz Werfel and 40 Days of Musa Dagh HeroHayPost stamps from 1995
/ref> * 2000 Monument on Schillerplatz in Vienna * 2006 Posthumous Award of Armenian Honorary Citizenship; the plaque was presented to the Austrian National Library.

Bibliography

In English (some of these titles are out of print): *''Mirror-Man: A Magic Trilogy'' (''Spiegelmensch: Magische Trilogie'') (1920), play *''The Trojans'' (1922) Play Published by Kurt Wolff as ''Die Troerinnen''. *''Verdi. Novel of the Opera'' (1924), novel *''Juarez and Maximilian'' (1925), play *''Paul Among the Jews: A Tragedy'' (1926), play *''The Man Who Conquered Death'' (''Der Tod des Kleinbürgers'') (1928), short story *'' Class Reunion'' (''Der Abituriententag'') (1928), novel (translated into English by Whittaker Chambers) *''

'' (1933; revised and expanded edition, 2012), novel *''Hearken Unto the Voice'', or ''Listen to the Voice'', or ''Jeremiah'' (''Höret die Stimme'', or ''Jeremias'') (1937), novel *''Embezzled Heaven'' (''Der veruntreute Himmel'') (1939), novel *'' The Song of Bernadette'' (1941), novel *''Pale Blue Ink in a Lady's Hand'' (''Eine blass-blaue Frauenschrift'') (1941; 2012), novella *''Jacobowsky und der Oberst'' (1944), play *''Star of the Unborn'' (1945/46), science-fiction novel *''Verdi: The Man and His Letters'', with

Paul Stefan Paul Stefan, born Paul Stefan Grünfeld (25 November 1879, in Brno – 12 November 1943, in New York City) was an Austrian music historian and critic. Born into an assimilated Jewish family, Paul Stefan came to live in Vienna in 1898. He attended ...

. New York, Vienna House 1973 *''Totentanz: 50 zeitlose Gedichte'', editor

Martin Werhand Martin Werhand (born May 13, 1968, in Neuwied, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a German publisher, editor and writer. 1997 he founded the publishing house Martin Werhand Verlag in Melsbach with focus on Fiction. Life and work Martin Peter Werhand was ...

. Melsbach,

Martin Werhand Verlag The Martin Werhand Verlag is a German publishing house with a focus on contemporary literature and poetry. More than 25% of the 150 published authors have an immigrant background with parents who were born outside of Germany and have their roots ...

2016

Filmography

*'' Juarez'', directed by

William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Hollywood primarily as a director for much of his ...

(1939, based on the play ''Juarez and Maximilian'') *'' The Song of Bernadette'', directed by Henry King (1943, based on the novel '' The Song of Bernadette'') *'' Me and the Colonel'', directed by Peter Glenville (1958, based on the play ') *', directed by Ernst Marischka (West Germany, 1958, based on the novel ''Embezzled Heaven'') *''Die wahre Geschichte vom geschändeten und wiederhergestellten Kreuz'', directed by (West Germany, 1963, TV film, based on the eponymous story) *''Jacobowsky and the Colonel'', directed by (West Germany, 1967, TV film, based on the play ') *''The Man Who Conquered Death'', directed by

Hans Hollmann Hans Erich (Eric) Hollmann (4 November 1899 – 19 November 1960) was a German electronic specialist who made several breakthroughs in the development of radar. Hollmann was born in Solingen, Germany. He became interested in radio and even a ...

(West Germany/Austria, 1974, TV film, based on the story ') *''Class Reunion'', directed by (West Germany, 1974, TV film, based on the novel '' Class Reunion'') *''Cella oder Die Überwinder'', directed by (West Germany/Austria, 1978, TV film, based on the unfinished novel ''Cella oder Die Überwinder'') *', directed by (East Germany, 1978, TV film, based on the eponymous story) *''

'', directed by Sarky Mouradian (1982, based on the novel ''

'') *', directed by Axel Corti (Austria, 1984, TV film, based on the story ') *''Jacobowsky and the Colonel'', directed by Martin Huba (Czechoslovakia, 1987, TV film, based on the play ') *''Embezzled Heaven'', directed by

Ottokar Runze Ottokar Runze (19 August 1925 – 22 September 2018) was a German film producer, director and screenwriter. His 1974 film '' In the Name of the People'' was entered into the 24th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Be ...

(Germany, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''Embezzled Heaven'') *''Class Reunion'', directed by (Czech Republic, 2000, TV film, based on the novel '' Class Reunion'')

References

External links

* * * *
Mahler-Werfel papers
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.
Franz Werfel Papers at UCLA

Franz Werfel Family Papers at the Leo Baeck Institute, NY

by Bertold Hummel after the novel ''Jeremias'' by Franz Werfel {{DEFAULTSORT:Werfel, Franz 1890 births 1945 deaths Writers from Prague Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austro-Hungarian writers Austrian male dramatists and playwrights German male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights Austrian historical novelists Austrian male short story writers American male short story writers American short story writers American writers in German 20th-century Austrian poets German male poets Austro-Hungarian Jews Jewish novelists Jewish poets Jewish American writers Austrian World War I poets World War II poets 20th-century German male writers Exilliteratur writers Expressionist poets Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery German male novelists 20th-century German novelists Austrian male poets 20th-century short story writers Austrian science fiction writers 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American Jews