Maxim Biller (born 25 August 1960 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

) is a German writer and columnist.

Early life

Born in

Soviet Jewish The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "For ...

parents, Rada Biller and Semjon-Jevsej Biller. He emigrated with his parents and sister to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1970, when he was ten years old. After living for a long time in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he now lives 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 ...

, frequently writing about issues relating to Jewish and German relations. His maternal grandfather was

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Works

In 2003 his novel ''

Esra Esra is a common Turkish given name for females. It is also a common Arabic name as Isra or Asra. People named Esra include: Given name * Esra Battaloğlu, Turkish geneticist * Esra Bayrak (born 1998), Turkish Paralympian athlete * Esra Bilgiç ( ...

'' excited attention when its sale was prohibited shortly after its release. Two persons had a provisional order obtained, because they claimed to have seen themselves reflected in characters in the book. A German court obliged their request to take the book from circulation on these grounds. His first works translated into English (by

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish language, Danish. These include ''The Castle (novel), The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, ''Aus ...

) are the collection ''Love Today'' (2008), some of which appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

.''

Beliefs

Biller strongly identifies as a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and is very critical of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

within the

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

movement.

Controversy

In June 2025, Biller published a column in Die Zeit titled Morbus Israel. In it, he described the Israeli government's starvation blockade of Gaza as "strategically correct." He also made a joke about an Israeli soldier who goes to a doctor and says he no longer wants to kill Arabs, to which the doctor advises him against stopping. Biller claimed that the German public exhibits a pathological obsession with Israeli policy during the war in Israel and Gaza. He wrote that critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza — such as Tilo Jung, Ralf Stegner, or Amnesty International — were on a “pathological, likely psychologically very stressful anti-Israel horror trip.” Following criticism of the column, The piece was quietly removed by Die Zeit because it apparently “did not meet the newspaper’s editorial standards”.

Publications

*''Wenn ich einmal reich und tot bin: Erzählungen'' (''Someday when I'm rich and dead: Narratives''), Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1990, (including the narrative ''Harlem Holocaust'') *''Die Tempojahre: Essays und Reportagen'', Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1991, *''Aufbruch nach Deutschland: Sechzehn Foto-Essays'' *''Land der Väter und Verräter: Erzählungen'', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1994, *''Harlem Holocaust'' (short novel), Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1998, *''Die Tochter'', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2000, *''Kühltransport'', 2001 *''Deutschbuch'', 2001 * ''

: Roman'', 2003, (distribution was prohibited from publishing by court) *''Der perfekte Roman: Das Maxim-Biller-Lesebuch'', 2003 *''Bernsteintage: Erzählungen'', 2004 *''Maxim Biller Tapes'' (CD with songs and poems), 2004 *''I Love My Leid'' (video), 2004 *''Moralische Geschichten: Satirische Kurzgeschichten'', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2005 *''Adas größter Wunsch'' (children's book), 2005 *''Menschen in falschen Zusammenhängen'' (comedy), 2006 *''Liebe heute'' (short stories), 2007 *''Ein verrückter Vormittag'' (children's book), 2008 *''Der gebrauchte Jude'' (self-portrait), Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2009, *''Kanalratten'' (theater play), Fischer 2013 *''Im Kopf von

Bruno Schulz Bruno Schulz (12 July 1892 – 19 November 1942) was a History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jewish writer, fine artist, Literary criticism, literary critic and Art education, art teacher. He is regarded as one of the great Polish (language), Po ...

: Novelle'', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2013, *''Jack Happy'' (children's book), Atlantik, Hamburg 2014, *''Biografie: Roman'', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2016, *''Mama Odessa: Roman'', Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2023, ISBN 978-3-462-00486-1

Awards

*1994

Toucan Prize The Toucan Prize () is a literary prize given by the city of Munich to the best new publication by a Munich author. It has been awarded since 1965 and is endowed with 6,000 Euros. Recipients *1965 Paul Mommertz, Georg Schwarz, Roland Ziersch, ...

from the city of Munich *1996 Preis des Europäischen Feuilletons: "Feuilleton" are the culture pages in German speaking newspaper *1996 *1999

Theodor Wolff Prize The Theodor Wolff Prize is a German journalism prize. It has been awarded annually since 1962 in five categories, equal prizes of €6,000, by the . In addition, at irregular intervals, journalists are awarded the Theodor Wolff Prize for their life ...

*2008

Brothers Grimm Poetics Professorship The Brothers Grimm Poetics Professorship is a visiting professorship established within the University of Kassel since the summer semester of 1985. The honor is given to writers and filmmakers as well as to cultural workers from the fields of theat ...

University of Kassel The University of Kassel () is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 professors. A special unit (Studienkoll ...

Press release by Universität Kassel
zur Grimm-Professur, 11. Dezember 2008. *2012

Würth-Literaturpreis The Würth-Literaturpreis was a German literary prize from 1996 to 2019 and was awarded a total of 30 times. References External links * German literary awards {{Germany-lit-award-stub ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biller, Maxim 1960 births Czechoslovak emigrants to Germany Czech people of Armenian descent Czech people of Russian-Jewish descent German people of Czech-Jewish descent German people of Russian-Jewish descent German male writers Jewish Czech writers Living people Writers from Prague German people of Armenian descent German Zionists