Frederic Morton (October 5, 1924 – April 20, 2015) 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 c ...

n-born American writer.

Life

Born Fritz Mandelbaum in Vienna, Morton was the son of a blacksmith who specialized in forging (manufacturing) imperial medals. In the wake of the ''

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

'' of 1938, his father was arrested, but later released. The family fled to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1939 and migrated to New York City the next year, when the senior Mandelbaum also changed the family name in order to be able to join an

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

labor union. Morton worked as a

baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

but began studying literature in 1949. He returned to Austria in 1962 to marry his fiancée, Marcia, whom he had met at college. From 1959, Morton worked as a columnist for several American periodicals including '' The New York Times'', '' Esquire'', and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''. He died at the Hilton hotel in Vienna at the age of 90 on April 20, 2015.

Selected works

*''The Hound'' (Dodd, Mead, 1947) Intercollegiate Literary Fellowship Prize Novels *''Asphalt and Desire'' (Harcourt Brace, 1952) novel *''The Witching Ship'' (Random House, 1960) novel *''The Rothschilds: A Family Portrait'' (

Atheneum Books Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since its acquisition of Macmillan in 1994 and it created Athen ...

, 1962) ; edition with new epilogue and afterword, ''The Rothschilds: Portrait of a Dynasty'' (New York: Kodansha International, 1998) ( ), *''The Schatten Affair'' (Atheneum, 1965) novel *''Snow Gods'' (New American Library, 1968) novel *''An Unknown Woman'' (Little Brown, 1976) novel *''A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888–1889'' (Little Brown, 1979) ( ) reprinted by the

Folio Society The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021. It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic fict ...

2006 *''The Forever Street'' (Doubleday, 1984) ( ) novel *''Chocolate: An Illustrated History'' (Random House, 1986) ( ) written with his wife Marcia *''Crosstown Sabbath: A Street Journey Through History'' (Grove Press, 1987) ( ) *''Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913-1914'' (Scribner's, 1989) ( ) *''Runaway Waltz'' (Simon & Schuster, 2005) ( )

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

Decorations and awards

* 1963: Author of the Year (

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

) * 1980: Title of "Professor" * 2001: Gold Medal of Vienna * 2003:

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 ...

References

External links

Complete bibliography (Literaturhaus Wien)

(By Richard Bernstein, June 28, 2003) * On Thelemanngasse(By Frederic Morton, February 20, 2006) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Frederic 1924 births 2015 deaths Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United States after the Anschluss American bakers Jewish American novelists People from Hernals Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class American columnists The New York Times columnists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American non-fiction writers Writers from Vienna American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews