Oskar Seidlin
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Oskar Seidlin (February 17, 1911 – December 11, 1984) was a Jewish emigre from
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
first to Switzerland and then to the U.S. He taught German language and literature as a professor at
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
,
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
,
Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
, and
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
from 1939 to 1979. He authored a number of fictional and non-fictional works.


Early years and education

He was born Salo Oskar Koplowitz to Johanna (1885–1943?) and Heinrich Koplowitz (1872–1938), a
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
dealer in Königshütte in the
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
Basin of
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
(now Chorzów in southwestern Poland) who served for many years as a city council alderman and was an active
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 member of the Jewish community. After completing secondary schooling at the humanities-focused '' Realgymnasium'' in Beuthen (now
Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one ...
) in 1929, he enrolled for one semester at the
University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...
and then transferred to the recently founded University of Frankfurt, which enjoyed a reputation as Germany's most progressive university and also had the highest percentage of Jewish students and professors. Here he was joined by his sister Ruth, five years his senior, and attended courses on German literature (taught by Wolfgang Pfeiffer-Belli, Julius Schwietering, Franz Schultz, Max Herrmann), French literature, philosophy (
Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (; ; August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German and American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran theologian who was one of the most influential theologians of the twenti ...
), and history. He also audited courses in sociology (
Theodor Adorno Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blue ...
,
Norbert Elias Norbert Elias (; 22 June 1897 – 1 August 1990) was a German-Jewish sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes. Life and career Elias was born on 22 June 1 ...
,
Karl Mannheim Karl Mannheim (born Károly Manheim, 27 March 1893 – 9 January 1947) was a Hungarian sociologist and a key figure in classical sociology as well as one of the founders of the sociology of knowledge. Mannheim is best known for his book '' Id ...
). In a seminar on
baroque literature The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo ( ...
taught by Martin Sommerfeld, he made the acquaintance of the gay Jewish student Richard Plaut, beginning a friendship they maintained when they later emigrated to Switzerland and the U.S. In the fall of 1930, he transferred with Plaut for one semester to the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, where they became acquainted with the Kattowitz edito
Franz Goldstein
and through him with Klaus Mann, both of whom were infatuated with Koplowitz. Upon returning to Frankfurt in 1931, he met the history student Dieter Cunz, who became his lifetime partner. He also met the students Wilhelm Rey (1911–2007) and Wilhelm Emrich (1909–1998) who became lifelong friends and eventually colleagues, despite their later accommodation with the Nazi regime; Rey served in the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
, and Emrich authored a doctrinaire anti-Semitic essay in 1943. In the closing years of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
, Koplowitz, Cunz, Plaut, Rey, and Emrich sympathized with Frankfurt's leftist student political group that was increasingly on the defensive when the growing Nazi Students League felt emboldened to disrupt courses taught by Jewish professors, including Sommerfeld. Koplowitz's primary interest was theater directing, and in 1932 he mounted a production of
John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...
's ''
The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...
'' with student friends.


Studies in Switzerland

In February 1933, following Hitler's rise to power, Plaut left Germany for Switzerland, where he was joined in April by Koplowitz. They initially regarded the move as a temporary transfer, not a permanent emigration, and expected to return to Frankfurt once the Nazis had been turned out of office. While Plaut and Koplowitz enrolled at the
University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...
in 1933, Cunz, a
gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...
, remained in Frankfurt but after completing his Ph.D. in 1934 also relocated to Switzerland. Hard pressed financially and constrained in employment by their Swiss student visas, Koplowitz and Plaut relied on writing under pseudonyms as their primary source of income. Together with Cunz, they coauthored three
detective novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...
under the collective
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Stefan Brockhoff that were published in Nazi Germany. Contemporaries of Friedrich Glauser, Koplowitz et al. are recognized as pioneers of the Swiss crime story genre (distinguished by setting and the occasional use of Helvetisms). In 1936, Koplowitz completed a Ph.D. with a ''
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' dissertation on the Naturalistic theater work of the leftist German Jewish director Otto Brahm, written under the supervision first of Franz Zinkernagel, who died in 1935, and then Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer. He then relocated with Cunz to
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, where he pursued postgraduate studies in French language and literature. One year later Plaut also finished his doctorate. Since their student visas were no longer extended following the completion of the Ph.D., Plaut and Koplowitz were under increasing pressure to leave Switzerland. In 1937, Koplowitz used the pen name Oskar Seidlin (possibly devised because of its similarity both to his mother's maiden name, Seidler, and to Hölderlin) for his young readers' tale ''Pedronis muss geholfen werden!'' A collection of his poems entitled ''Mein Bilderbuch'' was published under the same nom de plume in 1938. Together with Plaut, Koplowitz and Cunz decided to emigrate to the U.S.


Emigration to the U.S.

In 1938, the three left Switzerland for New York, where within a year their paths diverged. Koplowitz worked briefly as a dishwasher before finding employment as an
amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...
for the emigres
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 ...
and Erika Mann. In 1939, he obtained a lecturership in German language and literature at
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
in
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...
, where he advanced to an
assistant professor Assistant professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doct ...
ship in 1941. Cunz was awarded a grant to conduct historical research in Maryland, and in 1939 he received a teaching appointment at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, where he rose through the ranks and long chaired the Department of German. Plaut remained in New York City, where he officially changed his name to Plant and worked for the emigre Klaus Mann. Koplowitz would officially change his name to Seidlin in 1943, when he was
naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
as a U.S. citizen. With Plant, he coauthored ''S.O.S. Geneva'', a young readers' book with a cosmopolitan and pacifistic theme that was published in English in October 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II. Under the title ''Der goldene Apfel'', an abridged and annotated version of Seidlin's ''Pedronis muss geholfen werden!'' was published in 1942 for use in German language instruction. Between 1942 and 1946, he was granted an extended wartime leave from his teaching position at Smith to serve with the " Ritchie Boys" ( Military Intelligence Service). A second lieutenant, he served under Hans Habe in Germany, and he coauthored the screenplay of ''Death Mills'' (''Die Todesmühlen''), a documentary film about
Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
that was directed by
Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...
. While his father died in 1938 and his sister Ruth was imprisoned at hard labor from 1935 to 1940 for political activities before emigrating first to the Shanghai Ghetto and then to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, his mother was killed in
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
, probably in 1943. In 1946, Seidlin recorded his religion as
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
on a personnel information form.


Ohio State University

Following World War II, Seidlin made the acquaintance of Bernhard Blume while teaching at the German Summer School of
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
in
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
. Also an emigre who had left Nazi Germany in 1936, Blume chaired the Department of German at Ohio State University beginning in 1945, and he offered Seidlin an assistant professorship there. Seidlin moved to Columbus in the autumn of 1946, and he solidified his credentials with an essay on Goethe's ''Faust'' that appeared in the '' Publications of the Modern Language Association'' (1947). This signaled a growing shift in Seidlin's scholarly focus from the politically and socially informed studies of his Frankfurt and Basel years to the
canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...
works of
Weimar Classicism Weimar Classicism () was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after the city of Weimar in th ...
and
German Romanticism German Romanticism () was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German vari ...
favored in Germanistics during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
period. He collaborated on ''An Outline‑History of German Literature'' (1948) with the prominent Swiss-American comparatist Werner Paul Friederich (1905–199
,
professor at the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
, and Philip Allison Shelley (1907–197
,
head of the German Department at
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
. In rapid order, Seidlin was promoted to an
associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
ship in 1948 and to a full
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
ship in 1950. He revisited the subject of his doctoral dissertation by editing the correspondence of Otto Brahm with
Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...
(1953). To escape the summer heat in Columbus, Seidlin regularly taught at the Middlebury Summer School up to 1957, and he often spent the remaining summer weeks with Cunz and Plant on holiday at the beach of Manomet, Massachusetts, where they hobnobbed with the vacationing
Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...
. In the following years, Seidlin's political outlook shifted strongly to the right under the influence of Arendt's concept of
totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...
yoking together Nazism and Stalinism. Starting in 1954, Seidlin traveled frequently to West Germany to give guest lectures. In 1957, following Blume's departure from Ohio State for a position at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, Cunz was tapped to chair the German Department in Columbus. He and Seidlin contracted to have a house built in the suburb Worthington that was completed in 1958, and in 1961 both were relieved by the addition of central air conditioning. These were the happiest and most productive years in Seidlin's career. In quick succession, he published ''Essays in German and Comparative Literature'' (1961), followed by ''Von Goethe zu
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 ...
. Zwölf Versuche'' (1963) and ''Versuche über Eichendorff'' (1965), which he personally regarded as his most heartfelt work, in part because he and Eichendorff shared a Silesian upbringing. He also authored the essay collection ''Klassische und moderne Klassiker. Goethe, Brentano, Eichendorff,
Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...
, Thomas Mann'' (1972). In 1966, he was named a Regents' Professor at Ohio State University, and he served on the Advisory Council of
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
for several terms.


The final years

Seidlin was alarmed by the leftist turn of literary studies in West Germany and the U.S. in the late 1960s and 1970s and vehemently declined professorships proffered by the
University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...
in 1966 and the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
in 1968 because of widespread student unrest at West German universities, which he found reminiscent of the events one generation earlier, leading up to totalitarian dictatorship in Nazi Germany. He was criticized by some within the profession as an ivory tower conservative at pains to conceal both his gay and Jewish identities, and he resigned from the
Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "str ...
, regarding it as overly politicized. Following the death of Cunz at age 58 in 1969, Seidlin felt isolated in the Worthington house they had shared and found himself increasingly at odds with the chair of the German Department at Ohio State University, Cunz's successor. In 1972, he accepted an offer from Indiana University, where he taught as Distinguished Professor of Germanic languages and literatures until his retirement in May 1979. He published a second, expanded edition of the Brahm-Schnitzler correspondence, and he also reissued his doctoral dissertation on Brahm in a new printing. His final book publication was the essay collection ''Von erwachendem Bewusstsein und vom Sündenfall. Brentano, Schiller, Kleist, Goethe'' (1979). A selection of Seidlin's correspondence with Wilhelm Rey, who taught alongside Seidlin at Ohio State University in 1947–48, was published posthumously under the title ''"Bete für mich, mein Lieber..."'' in 2001. Written between 1947 and 1984, these letters document that Seidlin was increasingly tormented by self-doubts about his teaching performance and needed the tranquilizers Miltown and Valium to enter the classroom. Deeply depressed by the passing of Dieter Cunz, he chose to undergo electroshock treatment in 1970. In 1972, he found a new partner in the 35-year-old Hans Høgel, whom he visited regularly in Denmark and with whom he vacationed in the
Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridg ...
and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. In 1982, he moved into the newly built Indiana University Retirement Community, an independent senior living facility. A heavy smoker, he suffered a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in June 1984 and was diagnosed with a malignant tumor at the beginning of October; he died nine weeks later. In accordance with his wishes, his mortal remains were interred alongside those of Dieter Cunz at the Walnut Grove Cemetery in Worthington.


Achievements and awards

Internationally acclaimed for his adeptness at close reading and text-immanent literary interpretation, Seidlin lectured widely in the U.S. and West Germany. His broadly informed and thorough essays cunningly revealed how seemingly minor details and apparent coincidences meld seamlessly into the higher order of a literary artwork, and his writing aspired to an expository virtuosity that matched the dignified elegance of his public presentations. He wrote over 200 contributions to scholarly journals. In 1958, he chaired the Germanic Section of the Modern Language Association. In the summer of 1959, he was named Ford Professor-in-Residence at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
. In 1961, he received the Eichendorff Medal conferred by the Eichendorff Museum in
Wangen im Allgäu Wangen im Allgäu (, ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Wãnge'') is a historic city in southeast Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies north-east of Lake Constance in the Westallgäu. It is the second-largest city (population: 26,927 in 2020) ...
. He was twice the recipient of
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
s, in 1962 and 1976. In 1963, the
Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...
awarded him the Goethe Medal in Gold for meritorious work in the service of German culture in a foreign country. In 1965, he was elected first vice-president of the Modern Language Association. In 1968, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
and awarded the Prize for Germanic Studies Abroad by 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, Frankfurt, Paulskirche in Frankfurt. I ...
. In 1973, he was elected to the Göttingen Academy of Sciences as a corresponding member. In 1974, he received the Eichendorff Medal of the Eichendorff Society. In 1975, he received the Culture Prize of Upper Silesia awarded by the state of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
and on this occasion delivered an address describing his Silesian boyhood, including the everyday anti-Semitism he had experienced there. On his sixty-fifth birthday in 1976, he was honored with a ''
Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
''.''Herkommen und Erneuerung. Essays für Oskar Seidlin'', ed. Gerald Gillespie and Edgar Lohner (Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1976), xiv + 434 pages, with contributions by Käte Hamburger, Erich Heller, Egon Schwarz, Heinz Politzer, Henry H. H. Remak, Walter H. Sokel, et al. That year, he also received the Friedrich Gundolf Prize for Conveying German Culture Abroad from the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. In 1983, he was awarded the Georg Dehio Prize for Cultural and Intellectual History.


References


Books

*Stefan Brockhoff (i.e., Oskar Koplowitz, Dieter Cunz, and Richard Plaut). 1935. ''Schuß auf die Bühne. Detektiv-Roman''. Goldmanns Detektiv-Romane. Leipzig: Wilhelm Goldmann. 244 pages. 2nd ed.: ''Schuß auf die Bühne. Kriminal-Roman''. Goldmanns Kriminal-Romane, no. 79. Munich: Wilhelm Goldmann, 1965. 214 pages. *Stefan Brockhoff (i.e., Oskar Koplowitz, Dieter Cunz, and Richard Plaut). 1936. ''Musik im Totengässlein. Detektiv-Roman.'' Goldmanns Roman-Bibliothek, no. 29. Leipzig: Wilhelm Goldmann. 217 pages. 2nd ed.: ''Musik im Totengässlein. Kriminal-Roman.'' Goldmanns Kriminal-Romane, no. 69. Munich: Wilhelm Goldmann, 1965. 203 pages. 3rd ed.: ''Musik im Totengässlein. Detektiv-Roman'', ed. Paul Ott and Kurt Stadelmann. Schweizer Texte, Neue Folge, no. 25. Zurich: Chronos, 2007. 205 pages. *Oskar Koplowitz. 1936. ''Otto Brahm als Theaterkritiker. Mit Berücksichtigung seiner literarhistorischen Arbeiten''. Doctoral dissertation, University of Basel. Zurich: Max Niehans. viii + 218 pages. **Oskar Seidlin. 1978. ''Der Theaterkritiker Otto Brahm''. Bonn: Bouvier. viii + 216 pages. *Stefan Brockhoff (i.e., Oskar Koplowitz, Dieter Cunz, and Richard Plaut). 1937. ''Drei Kioske am See''. Goldmanns Roman-Bibliothek. Leipzig: Wilhelm Goldmann. 217 pages. 2nd ed.: ''Drei Kioske am See. Kriminal-Roman.'' Goldmanns Kriminal-Romane, no. 73. Munich: Wilhelm Goldmann, 1964. 204 pages. *Oskar Seidlin. 1937. ''Pedronis muss geholfen werden! Eine Erzählung für die Jugend'', with illustrations by Felix Hoffmann. Aarau: H. R. Sauerländer. 232 pages. **Oskar Seidlin. 1942. ''Der goldene Apfel. Eine Erzählung für die Jugend'', abridged ed. with questions, exercises, and vocabulary by Ann Elizabeth Mensel. New York: F. S. Crofts. x + 189 pages. London: George G. Harrap, 1948. x + 189 pages. **Oskar Seidlin. 1943. ''Green Wagons'', trans. Senta Jonas Rypins and illustrations by Barbara Cooney. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 130 pages. Special ed.: Cadmus Books. Eau Claire: E. M. Hale, 1943. 130 pages. **Oskar Seidlin. 1969. ''Waldwyl und die Theaterleute''. Kleine Bücherei für schreib-leseschwache Kinder (Legastheniker). Aarau: H. R. Sauerländer. 47 pages. *Oskar Seidlin. 1938. ''Mein Bilderbuch. Gedichte''. Zurich: Oprecht. 72 pages. *Oskar Seidlin and Richard Plaut. 939 ''S.O.S. Genf. Ein Friedensbuch für Kinder'', with 40 illustrations by Susel Bischoff. Zurich: Humanitas. 256 pages. **Oskar Seidlin and Richard Plant. 1939. ''S.O.S. Geneva'', with 29 illustrations by
William Pène du Bois William Sherman Pène du Bois (May 9, 1916 – February 5, 1993) was an American writer and illustrator of books for young readers. He is best known for '' The Twenty-One Balloons'', published in April 1947 by Viking Press, for which he won the ...
. Adapted into English by
Ralph Manheim Ralph Frederick Manheim (April 4, 1907 – September 26, 1992) was an American translator of German and French literature, as well as occasional works from Dutch, Polish and Hungarian. He was one of the most acclaimed translators of the 20th ...
. New York: Viking Press. 246 pages. *Werner Paul Friedrich, Oskar Seidlin, and Philip Allison Shelley. 1948. ''An Outline‑History of German Literature''. College Outline Series, no. 65. New York: Barnes & Noble. 396 pages. 2nd rev. ed. 1963. viii + 356 pages. **Werner Paul Friedrich, Oskar Seidlin, and Philip Allison Shelley. 1961. ''Historia de la literatura alemana'', trans. Aníbal Leal. México: Hermes. 321 pages. *Oskar Seidlin, ed. 1953. ''Der Briefwechsel Arthur Schnitzler—Otto Brahm''. Berlin: Gesellschaft für Theatergeschichte. 266 pages. **Oskar Seidlin, ed. 1975. ''Briefwechsel Arthur Schnitzler—Otto Brahm''. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer. 362 pages. *Stefan Brockhoff (i.e., Oskar Seidlin, Dieter Cunz, and Richard Plant). 1955. ''Begegnung in Zermatt. Kriminal-Roman.'' Goldmanns Taschen-Krimi, no. 61. Munich: Goldmann, 1955. 182 pages. *Oskar Seidlin. 1961. ''Essays in German and Comparative Literature''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 254 pages. 2nd ed., New York: Johnson Reprint, 1966. 254 pages. *Oskar Seidlin. 1963. ''Von Goethe zu Thomas Mann. Zwölf Versuche''. Kleine Vandenhoeck-Reihe, no. 1705. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 246 pages. 2nd, rev. ed., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1969. 246 pages. *Oskar Seidlin. 1965. ''Versuche über Eichendorff''. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 303 pages. 2nd printing, 1978. 3rd printing, 1985. *Oskar Seidlin. 1972. ''Klassische und moderne Klassiker. Goethe, Brentano, Eichendorff, Gerhart Hauptmann, Thomas Mann''. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 154 pages. *Oskar Seidlin. 1979. ''Von erwachendem Bewusstsein und vom Sündenfall. Brentano, Schiller, Kleist, Goethe.'' Stuttgart: E. Klett–J. G. Cotta. 171 pages.


Bibliography

*"Seidlin, Oskar". In Archiv Bibliographia Judaica, ed., ''Lexikon deutsch-jüdischer Autoren'', vol. 19: ''Sand–Stri'', pp. 212–218. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012. *"Seidlin, Oskar". In Franz Heiduk, ''Oberschlesisches Literatur-Lexikon'', part 3, pp. 95–96. Heidelberg: Palatina, 2000. *Peter Boerner, "Oskar Seidlin". In John M. Spalek et al., eds, ''Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933'', vol. 3: ''USA'', supplement 1, pp 307–315. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2010. *"Seidlin, Oskar". In Werner Röder and Herbert A. Strauss, eds., ''International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933-1945'', vol. 2, part 2, p. 1071. Munich: Saur, 1983.


External links


Photo
of Oskar Koplowitz (at left) with Dieter Cunz (right) and Richard Plaut (center) at the
Gornergrat The Gornergrat (; ) is a rocky ridge of the Pennine Alps, overlooking the Gorner Glacier south-east of Zermatt in Switzerland. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat rack railway (GGB), the highest open-air railway in Europe. Betwee ...
, ca. 1935
Photo
of Oskar Seidlin, ca. 1982
Photo
of the Dieter Cunz / Oskar Seidlin tombstone in Worthington, Ohio * Ohio State University personne
files
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidlin, Oskar 1911 births 1984 deaths German crime fiction writers German children's writers German LGBTQ novelists German LGBTQ poets German Germanists Silesian Jews Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Prussian emigrants to the United States German-language poets Indiana University faculty Middlebury College faculty Middlebury College Department of German faculty American academics of German literature American male non-fiction writers Jewish American academics Jewish American children's writers Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American novelists Jewish American poets Ohio State University faculty People from the Province of Silesia People from Chorzów Princeton University people Smith College faculty American gay writers German gay writers 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German poets German male novelists German male poets 20th-century German male writers Gay novelists Gay poets Gay academics Naturalized citizens of the United States Ritchie Boys United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American LGBTQ people