Anton Wildgans (17 April 1881 – 3 May 1932) was an Austrian

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. He was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

four times.

Life

Born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Wildgans studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, from 1900 to 1909, and then practiced as an examining magistrate (Untersuchungsrichter) from 1909 to 1911, before devoting himself to writing full-time."About the author" (p. 199), prefatory note to: Anton Wildgans, "Speech About Austria" (pp. 199–204), in: Diana Mishkova, Marius Turda, and Balázs Trencsényi (Eds.), ''Anti-Modernism: Radical Revisions of Collective Identity''. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2014. . Retrieved via '' Project MUSE'' database, 2017-07-23. His works, in which realism,

neo-romanticism The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...

and

expressionism 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 rad ...

mingle, focus on the drama of daily life. He twice served as director of Vienna's

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

, in 1921–1922 and 1930–1931. One of his teachers was the Austrian Jewish philosopher

Wilhelm Jerusalem Wilhelm Jerusalem (; 11 October 1854, Dřenice – 15 July 1923, Vienna) was an Austrian Jewish philosopher and pedagogue. Biography Jerusalem studied classical philosophy at the University of Prague and prepared a doctorate entitled "The Insc ...

.Wildgans, Anton, "Widmung" (1915), in: Max Adler (Ed.), ''Festschrift für Wilhelm Jerusalem: zu seinem 60. Geburtstag von Freunden, Verehrern und Schülern'' (Festschrift for Wilhelm Jerusalem on his 60th Birthday). Vienna: Braumüller. p. 1–2. Also includes essays by Max Adler,

Rudolf Eisler Rudolf Eisler (7 January 1873 – 14 December 1926) was an Austrian philosopher. Biography Rudolf Eisler was born in Vienna to a family of wealthy Jewish merchants.Michael Haas, ''Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis'' (New ...

, Sigmund Feilbogen,

Rudolf Goldscheid Rudolf Goldscheid (12 August 1870 – 6 October 1931) was an Austrian writer and sociologist, co-founder of the German Sociological Association, known for his theory of human economy () and for developing the topic of fiscal sociology. He has b ...

, Stefan Hock,

Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when ...

, Josef Kraus, Anton Lampa,

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( ; ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the understanding of the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of ...

, Rosa Mayreder, Julius Ofner, Josef Popper,

Otto Simon Otto Simon is a Dutch importer, distributor, and franchiser of toys and homeware, headquartered in Almelo. History The company was founded in 1911 by Otto Simon. At that time it was mainly a peddler company, specializing in beads and glassware. ...

, and Christine Touaillon. Wildgans was the mentor of writer Albert Drach. Wildgans died in

Mödling Mödling () is the capital of the Austrian Mödling (district), district of the same name located approximately 15 km south of Vienna. Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone (Industrieviertel). The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises ...

. The '' Wildganshof'', a residential development in the 3rd District of Vienna, is named after him.

Selected works

* ''Armut'' ("Poverty"), drama, 1914 * ''Liebe'' ("Love"), drama, 1916 * ''Dies Iræ'', drama, 1918 * ''Sämtliche Werke'' ("Complete Works"), 1948. Historical-critical edition in 8 volumes edited by Lilly Wildgans with the collaboration of Otto Rommel. Vienna/Salzburg: Gemeinschaftsverlag Bellaria/Pustet, 1948

References

External links

* * 1881 births 1932 deaths 20th-century Austrian poets Austrian male poets Austrian people of Czech descent Writers from Vienna Male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian male writers {{playwright-stub