Ferdinand Lion (11 June 1883 – 21 January 1968) was a Swiss journalist and writer.

Life

Born in Mulhouse, Lion studied history and philosophy in Strasbourg, Munich and Heidelberg, got to know

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

during a stay in Paris and worked as a journalist during the First World War, among others for the ''Neuen Merkur''. Since 1917 he became friends with

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 ...

, later also with

Alfred Döblin Bruno Alfred Döblin (; 10 August 1878 – 26 June 1957) was a German novelist, essayist, and doctor, best known for his novel '' Berlin Alexanderplatz'' (1929). A prolific writer whose œuvre spans more than half a century and a wide variety of ...

. After the end of the war he became

literary editor A literary editor is a editor responsible for refining and overseeing the quality of written content in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Literary editor deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews. A literary ...

Ullstein Verlag The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and '' Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstei ...

in Berlin, employee of the ''

Neue Rundschau The ''Neue Rundschau'', formerly ''Die neue Rundschau'' (), founded in 1890, is a quarterly German literary magazine that appears in the S. Fischer Verlag. With its over 100 years of continuous history, it is one of the oldest cultural publicati ...

'' and wrote

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

, among others for

Eugen d'Albert Eugen (originally Eugène) Francis Charles d'Albert (10 April 1864 – 3 March 1932) was a Scottish-born pianist and composer who immigrated to Germany. Educated in Britain, d'Albert showed early musical talent and, at the age of seventeen, h ...

and

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

. He emigrated to Switzerland in 1933, was editor of the magazine ''Maß und Wert'' in 1937/1938, lived in France during the Second World War and returned to Zurich in 1946. In addition to fiction, Lion wrote literary, historical, and philosophical treatises, including ''Lebensquellen der deutschen Metaphysik'' (1960).

Works

;Libretti *'' Revolutionshochzeit''; Opera, music by Eugen d’Albert (1919) *'' Der Golem''; Musikdrama (opera), music by Eugen d’Albert (1926) *'' Cardillac''. Opera; music, (1925/26) Paul Hindemith ;Essays * ''Geschichte biologisch gesehen''. Max Niehans, Zürich 1935 * ''Romantik als deutsches Schicksal''.

Rowohlt Verlag Rowohlt Verlag is a German publishing house based in Hamburg, with offices in Reinbek and Berlin. It has been part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Group since 1982. The company has been dissolved and restarted twice since its creation in 1908. Hi ...

, Stuttgart/Hamburg 1947 * ''Lebensquellen französischer Metaphysik.'' (Translated from French by Ruth Gillischewski, with Hans Hermann Hagedorn as illustrator). Claassen & Goverts, Zürich 1949 * ''Geist und Politik in Europa. Verstreute Schriften aus den Jahren 1915–1961''.''Geist und Politik in Europa. Verstreute Schriften aus den Jahren 1915–1961''
on WorldCat ,

Bibliography

* * Walter Tetzlaff: ''2000 Kurzbiographien bedeutender deutscher Juden des 20. Jahrhunderts.'' Askania, Lindhorst 1982, . * ''Lion, Ferdinand.'' In ''.'' Band 16: ''Lewi–Mehr.'' edited from Archiv Bibliographia Judaica. Saur, München 2008, , .

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lion, Ferdinand 1883 births 1968 deaths Writers from Mulhouse Swiss writers Swiss librettists Swiss essayists 20th-century Swiss journalists