Gert Hofmann (29 January 1931 – 1 July 1993) was a German writer and professor of German literature.

Life

Hofmann was born and grew up in Limbach,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

) which, after

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, became part of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. In 1948, he moved with his family to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. There, he attended a school for translators and interpreters, studying English and Russian. In 1950, he enrolled to

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, where he studied

Romance languages The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...

and

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto ...

. In 1951, he fled from the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and settled in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, where he continued his studies. In 1957, he graduated with a thesis on

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was th ...

. Hofmann began his writing career as a writer of radio plays. After one year as a research assistant at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württe ...

, he left Germany in 1961 for

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

to teach

German literature German literature () comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, South Tyrol in Italy and to a l ...

. Over the next ten years he taught at universities in Europe in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

and Austin. From 1971 to 1980 he lived in the southern

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n town of

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

, while teaching at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

. In 1980, aged 49, he returned to Germany, moving to

Erding Erding () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the rural district of the same name. It had a population of 36,469 in 2019. The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty. Erding is located around 31 kilometers no ...

near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, becoming a novelist. He died of a stroke in 1993.

Honors

Hofmann received several literary awards during his lifetime including the

Ingeborg-Bachmann-Preis The Festival of German-Language Literature (german: Tage der deutschsprachigen Literatur, links=no) is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of ...

(1979), the Alfred-Döblin-Preis (1982), the

Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden The Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden (War Blinded Audio Play Prize), also known as the Kriegsblindenpreis (War Blinded Prize) is the most important literary prize granted to playwrights of audio plays written in the German language. The award was ...

(1983). In 1987, he became a member of the

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstad ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

. He received the Literaturpreis der Stadt München in 1993.

Works

A number of Hofmann's works have been translated by his son, the poet Michael Hofmann (*1957 in Freiburg). ''Die Denunziation''(1979) and ''Veilchenfeld''(1986) are concerned with

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. * ''Interpretationsprobleme bei Henry James'', (1957) * ''Der Bürgermeister'', (1963) * ''Der Sohn'', (1966) * ''Kündigungen'', (1969) * ''Our Man in Madras'', (1969), (short film version 2014) * ''Advokat Patelin'', (1976) * ''Die Denunziation'', (1979) * ''Die Fistelstimme'', (1980) * ''Fuhlrotts Vergeßlichkeit. Portrait eines uns bekannten Kopfes'', (1981) * ''Gespräch über Balzacs Pferd'', (Trans. ''Balzac's Horse and Other Stories'') (1981, Trans. 1989) * ''Die Überflutung'' (1981) * ''Auf dem Turm'' (Trans. ''The Spectacle at the Tower'') (1982, Trans. 1989) * ''Die Rückkehr des verlorenen Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz nach Riga'', (1984) * ''Unsere Eroberung'' (Trans. ''Our Conquest''), (1984, Trans. 1991) * '' Der Blindensturz'' (Trans. ''The Parable of the Blind''), (1985, Trans. 1989) * ''Veilchenfeld'' (1986) * ''Die Weltmaschine'', (1986) * ''Casanova und die Figurantin'', (1987) * ''Unsere Vergeßlichkeit'' (1987) * ''Vor der Regenzeit'', (Trans. ''Before the Rainy Season), (1988, Trans. 1992) * ''Der Kinoerzähler'' (Trans. ''The Film Explainer''), (1990, Trans. 1996) * ''Tolstois Kopf'', (1991) * ''Das Glück'' (Trans. ''Luck''), (1992, Trans. 2004) * ''Das Thema kommt, verbeugt sich, sagt: Wie wär's?'', (1992) * ''Die kleine Stechardin'' (1994) (Trans. ''Lichtenberg and the Little Flower Girl,'' Michael Hofmann, 2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Gert Leipzig University alumni University of Freiburg alumni University of Ljubljana faculty University of Toulouse faculty University of Paris faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty 1931 births 1993 deaths Ingeborg Bachmann Prize winners 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German male writers

Life

Honors

Works

See also

References