Richard Katz (November 21, 1888 – November 8, 1968) was a

German 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 ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern pe ...

, and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal an ...

from Bohemia. While writing both grandiose and humble prose, his style is consistently imbued with a sense of humor, humility and love for all things living.

Early years

After graduation Katz studied law at The German University in Prague. During his studies, he wrote for a variety of newspapers and magazines. Upon graduation, he began work with the now defunct Vossische Zeitung newspaper in their Prague office. During this placement, he spent a year in

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working as a traveling reporter.

Career in journalism

After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, Katz moved to

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and in 1924 he became director of the Leipzig Publishing Company, a position he held for two years. In the years between 1928 and 1930, he was a clerk for the

Ullstein Leopold Ullstein (6 September 1826 – 4 December 1899) was the founder and publisher of several successful German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of Ger ...

publishing house in

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. While working in this position, Katz founded the '' Green Post'', a periodical which very quickly reached a circulation of over one million. The financial success allowed Katz to establish himself as an independent writer, giving him the freedom to travel the world while writing of his experiences.

Travel and publication

During the period between 1925 and his death, Katz published nearly thirty-five volumes, mostly personally written journalistic travel books. In the late twenties, his five-book series (''The Wide, Wide World'') emerged, including , , , , (name translations below). His other areas of interests were animals – specifically dogs – and gardening. Some of his most refreshing works center around the personalities of dogs, and the methods one must employ to be a successful gardener. In 1933, Katz emigrated to Switzerland. In 1941, he moved to Brazil obtaining citizenship there. In 1956 he returned to Switzerland where he died in 1968 living above Locarno.

Selected works

Works translated into English

* (Loafing Around the Globe) * (Rays From the East) * (Solitary Life)

Untranslated German travel books

* (''Pleasant Days with Brown Peoples'') * (''Zig-Zagging Through South America'') * (''Harvest'') * (''The voyage round the world in the Johannisnacht'') * (''My Island Book – first experiences in Brazil'') * (''Strange travels in Brazil'') * (''Travel Fever'') * (''Meetings in Rio'') * (''On the Amazon'') * (''Per Hill's hardest case – a serious detective story'') * (''A Great Deal from a Far Off Country'') * (''Wandering World'') * (''Greetings from the Hammock'')

Stories regarding domestic matters

* (''Nature's Jewels'') * (''Four Stories on Animals'') * (''From Dog to Dog'') * (''On Gardening'') * (''Hobbies'')

Political work

* ''(The Three Faces of Lucifer: Noise, Machines, Business)''

Autobiographical works

* (''Lost in the City'') * (''Solitary Life'')

Literature

* Jeroen Dewulf: ''Brasilien mit Brüchen. Schweizer unter dem Kreuz des Südens'', Zürich: NZZ Verlag 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Richard Writers from Prague 1888 births 1968 deaths Brazilian journalists Male journalists Brazilian male writers Charles University alumni German essayists German travel writers German emigrants to Switzerland German emigrants to Brazil German publishers (people) German magazine founders Naturalized citizens of Brazil 20th-century essayists 20th-century German journalists