Emil Ludwig (25 January 1881 – 17 September 1948) was a German-Swiss author, known for his biographies and study of historical "greats."

Biography

Emil Ludwig (originally named Emil Cohn) was born in Breslau, now part of Poland, on 25 January 1881. Born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, he was raised as a non-Jew but was not baptized. “Many persons have become Jews since

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

," he said. "I have been a Jew since the murder of

Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and liberal politician. During the First World War of 1914–1918 he was involved in the organization of the German war economy. After the war, Rathenau s ...

n 1922 from which date I have emphasized that I am a Jew.” Ludwig studied law but chose writing as a career. At first he wrote plays and novellas, also working as a journalist. In 1906, he moved to Switzerland, but, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, he worked as a foreign correspondent for the ''

Berliner Tageblatt The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the ''Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time. History The ''Berline ...

'' in

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and

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. He became a Swiss citizen in 1932, later emigrating to the United States in 1940. After the 1921 trial of Soghomon Tehlirian for the

assassination of Talat Pasha On 15 March 1921, Armenian student Soghomon Tehlirian assassinated Talaat Pasha—former grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire and the main architect of the Armenian genocide—in Berlin. At his trial, Tehlirian argued, "I have killed a man, bu ...

, the main architect of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

, Ludwig wrote, "Only when a society of nations has organized itself as the protector of international order will no Armenian killer remain unpunished, because no Turkish Pasha has the right to send a nation into the desert". During the 1920s, he achieved international fame for his popular biographies which combined historical fact and fiction with psychological analysis. After his biography of Goethe was published in 1920, he wrote several similar biographies, including one about Bismarck (1922–24) and another about Jesus (1928). As Ludwig's biographies were popular outside of Germany and were widely translated, he was one of the fortunate émigrés who had an income while living in the United States. His writings were considered particularly dangerous by

Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

, who mentioned him in his journal. Ludwig interviewed

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

and on 1 December 1929

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

. His interview with the founder of

the Republic of Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in S ...

appeared in ''Wiener Freie Presse'' in March 1930, addressing issues of religion and music. He also interviewed

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

in Moscow on 13 December 1931. An excerpt from this interview is included in Stalin's book on

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

. Ludwig describes this interview in his biography of Stalin. Ludwig's extended interviews with T.G. Masaryk, founder and longtime president of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, appeared as ''Defender of Democracy'' in 1936. At the end of the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he went to Germany as a journalist, and it is to him that we owe the retrieving of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

's and

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

's coffins, which had disappeared from

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

in 1943/44. He returned to Switzerland after the war and died in 1948, in Moscia, a neighborhood, part of the commune of

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, in the canton of Ticino, which is the Italian part of Switzerland. In 1944, Ludwig wrote a letter to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' where he urged that "Hitler’s fanaticism against the Jews could be exploited by the Allies. The Three Powers should send a proclamation to the German people through leaflets and to the German Government through neutral countries; threatening that further murdering of Jews would involve terrible retaliation after victory. This would drive a wedge into the already existing dissension of the generals and the Nazis, and also between ultra-Nazis and other Germans.” In a May 1948 ''Tempo'' magazine article, Ludwig theorized that Hitler could have survived by having a body double killed and cremated in his place. The same year, presiding judge at the Einsatzgruppen trial at Nuremberg

Michael Musmanno Michael Angelo Musmanno (April 7, 1897 – October 12, 1968) was an American jurist, politician, and naval officer. Coming from an immigrant family, he started to work as a coal loader at the age of 14. After serving in the United States Army in ...

dismissed Ludwig's theory in an article stating his own definitive view that Hitler had died; Musmanno elaborated these opinions in a book two years later. Ludwig died in his sleep near Ascona on 17 September 1948.

French and English editions of works by Ludwig

The following French editions of Emil Ludwig's books were published in the period 1926–1940: Biographies: ''Goethe'' (3 volumes), ''Napoléon'', ''Bismarck'', ''Trois Titans'', ''Lincoln'', ''Le Fils de l'Homme'', ''Le Nil'' (2 volumes). Political works: ''Guillaume II'', ''Juillet 1914'', ''Versailles'', ''Hindenburg'', ''Roosevelt'', ''Barbares et Musiciens'', ''La Conquête morale de l'Allemagne'', ''Entretiens avec Mussolini'', ''La Nouvelle Sainte-Alliance''. Biographies of Goethe, Napoleon, Bismarck and Wilhelm Hohenzollern are available in English from G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York and London). Emil Ludwig was – and remains – renowned for a popular biography of Napoleon published in English in 1926, just after it was published in Germany in the original German, while Ludwig was still living there. This book is still quite readable today – Ludwig has a rare gift of evoking a vanished era in straightforward plain prose. The book has a rare quality of immediacy, as if what Ludwig writes of were almost current history. ''Napoleon'' was published by Boni & Liveright, a New York publishing house renowned for titles of intellectual and scholarly interest in its day.

Writing style for Napoleon

Ludwig describes the characters using accurate vocabulary and dramatic quotes and sentences. His ability to combine facts with popular stories and rumors in his novel "

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

" makes the entire book a detailed odyssey. The explicit descriptions and psychological interpretations in his books make it appear as if the characters were heroes. His unique writing style simplifies the intricate political activities of that time in an interesting and readable manner.

Books

* ''Leaders of Europe'', Ivor Nicholson and Watson Ltd. (1934), translated by James Murphy * ''Bismarck'' * ''Cleopatra'' * ''Diana'' * ''Genius and Character'' * ''Gifts of Life'' * ''Goethe'' * ''Hindenburg'' William Heinemann Ltd. (1935), translated by Eden and

Cedar Paul Cedar Paul, ''née'' Gertrude Mary Davenport (1880 – 18 March 1972) was a singer, author, translator and journalist.''Who Was Who'' Biography Gertrude Davenport came from a musical family: she was the granddaughter of the composer George Ale ...

* ''July '14'' (1929) * ''Kaiser Wilhelm II: Wilhelm Hohenzollern'' (1926) * ''Nine Etched from Life'' * ''Lincoln'' * ''Napoleon'' (1922) * ''On Mediterranean Shores'' * ''The Practical Wisdom of Goethe'' * ''Schliemann'' * ''Son of Man (Jesus)'' * ''Talks with Mussolini'' * ''Three Titans'' * ''The Davos Murder'' * ''Defender of Democracy'' * ''Masaryk of Czechoslovakia'' * ''The Nile: The Life-Story of a River'', The Viking Press (1937), translated by Mary H. Lindsay * ''Mackenzie King. A Portrait Sketch'' (1944) * ''Rembrandts Schicksal'' (1923) * ''Three Titans: Michael Angelo, Rembrandt, Beethoven''. (1930) "Wagner: oder Die Entzauberten" (F. Lehmann, 1913) ″ Otelo″

References

External links

* * *
Ludwig's interview with Stalin

Talks with Mussolini

Guide to the Papers of Emil Ludwig (1881-1948)
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...