Franz Kain (10 January 1922 – 27 October 1997) 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 writer and politician. He was born in

Bad Goisern Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good *Error, Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect *Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored tr ...

and was educated locally. He apprenticed as a carpenter but quit and worked as a woodcutter. At the age of 14, he was arrested for distributing leaflets for the communist youth organization and imprisoned for three weeks. Following the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, he was arrested again in 1941 and was later pressed into service in the German 999th Light Afrika Division. From April 1942 to March 1946, he was held in custody by the Americans as a prisoner of war. When he returned to Austria, Kain began working as a journalist for the newspaper ''Die Neue Zeit'' in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

. From 1953 to 1956, he was a correspondent for the newspaper '' Volksstimme'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He married Margit Gröblinger in 1961. The couple's daughter Eugenie also became a writer. In 1954, his story "Die Lawine" appeared in the anthology ''Der Kreis hat einen Anfang''. Kain's essays have appeared in various anthologies and journals. His work has been translated into Czech, Russian and Ukrainian. He joined the

Communist Party of Austria The Communist Party of Austria (, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of Republic of German-Austria, German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest Communist party, communist parties. The KP� ...

(KPO) in 1936. From 1977 to 1986, he served on the council for the (KPO) in Linz. Kain received the

Decoration for Services to the Liberation of Austria The Decoration for Services to the Liberation of Austria () was created by federal law on 27 January 1976. It is a special distinction for men and women who actively resisted the Nazi regime contributing to Austria’s liberation from Nazi rule. T ...

, the Silver Medal from the Republic of Austria and the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

from the Soviet Union. For his literary works, he was awarded the Preis des Kulturministers of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, the

Theodor Körner Prize The Theodor Körner Prize (German: ''Theodor-Körner-Preis'') is a set of annual Austrian awards bestowed by the Theodor Körner Fund in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The prize is awarded at the University of Vienna. The priz ...

and the

Kulturpreis des Landes Oberösterreich The Kulturpreis des Landes Oberösterreich (Culture Prize of the Province of Upper Austria) is awarded as a prize by the Province of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Li ...

. Kain died in Linz at the age of 75.

Selected works

Source: * ''Romeo und Julia an der Bernauerstraße'', stories (1954) * ''Die Lawine'', novel (1959) * ''Der Föhn bricht ein'', novel (1962) * ''Die Donau fließt vorbei'', short stories (1969) * ''Der Weg zum Ödensee'', stories (1973) * ''Das Ende der Ewigen Ruh'', novel (1978) * ''Das Schützenmahl'', stories (1986) * ''Im Brennesseldickicht'', stories (1989) * ''Der Schnee war warm und sanft'', stories (1989) * ''In Grodeck kam der Abendstern'', novel (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kain, Franz 1922 births 1997 deaths People from Bad Goisern 20th-century Austrian novelists Austrian male short story writers Communist Party of Austria politicians 20th-century Austrian journalists German Army personnel of World War II Austrian military personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States