Christine Lavant
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Christine Lavant (born Christine Thonhauser, mar. Christine Habernig; 4 July 1915 – 7 June 1973) was an
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n poet and novelist.


Life

Lavant was born in the hamlet of Großedling (today part of Wolfsberg) in the
Lavant Valley Bezirk Wolfsberg () is a district of the state of Carinthia in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are ...
,
Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
, the ninth child of a poor miner's family. Later she adopted the name of the valley as her pseudonym. The newborn had scrofula of the breast, neck and face, and nearly went blind. From the age of three, the child at regular intervals contracted
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
and physicians treated her as nonviable; nevertheless she was enrolled in
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
(''
Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...
'') in 1921. During a hospitalisation in Klagenfurt, the chief physician noted Lavant's literary interest and presented her an edition of
Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...
's works, which she carried on her walk home. In 1927 her health again declined and she was only able to finish primary school with continual interruptions two years later, after being exposed to a risky X-ray treatment. She had to abandon the subsequent attendance at the lower
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
(''
Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
'') as the way was too long for the feeble child. Lavant had to stay at her parents' home and occupied herself with painting, writing, reading, and needleworks. A protracted middle ear infection left a single-sided hearing impairment. In the early 1930s, she came down with a
major depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...
, but also focused on painting and writing and offered a first novel to a
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
publishing house. The manuscript was finally rejected in 1932, whereafter Lavant completely destroyed her writing and in 1935 attended the Klagenfurt sanatorium. Her financial condition worsened after her parents had died in quick succession in 1937 and 1938. Supported by her knitting and subsidised by her siblings, she married the painter and former landowner Josef Habernig, about 35 years her senior. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Lavant again began to compose lyric poetry, which eventually gained some attention by the Austrian literary scene. A first volume was released by a
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
publisher who recommended her to prose, whereafter she came out with the novella ''Das Kind'' (''The Child'') in the same year. She became publicly known after an appearance at a 1950 reading in Sankt Veit. Lavant relocated to her hometown Wolfsberg, where she lived in reclusion for the rest of her life. When in 1964 her husband died after a
stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
, she had a breakdown in health and again had to undergo hospital treatment. Lavant died, aged 57, in Wolfsberg. Her poems have been described as "almost mystically religious" and "archaic". Rilke and ChristianityPost-war women's writing in German: feminist critical approaches by Chris Weedon, pg 245
/ref> are seen as influences on her work.


Awards

*1954
Georg Trakl Prize Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg, an Internet meme See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: ...
*1964
Anton Wildgans Prize The Anton Wildgans Prize of Austrian Industry is a literary award that was endowed in 1962 by the Federation of Austrian Industry. The prize is worth 15,000 Euro and is granted by an independent jury to a young or middle-aged writer of Austrian ci ...
*1964
Georg Trakl Prize Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg, an Internet meme See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: ...
*1970
Grand Austrian State Prize The Grand Austrian State Prize () is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria. It was originally created in 1950 by then education mi ...
for literature


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavant, Christine 1915 births 1973 deaths People from Wolfsberg Anton Wildgans Prize winners 20th-century Austrian women writers 20th-century Austrian writers German-language poets 20th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers