Stefan Zweig ( ; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world.
Zweig was raised in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
. He wrote historical studies of famous literary figures, such as
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...
,
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
, and
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...
in ''Drei Meister'' (1920; ''Three Masters''), and decisive historical events in ''
Decisive Moments in History'' (1927). He wrote biographies of
Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (; 21 May 1759 – 26 December 1820) was a French statesman, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of Emperor Napoleon. H ...
(1929),
Mary Stuart (1935) and
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
(''
Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman'', 1932), among others. Zweig's best-known fiction includes ''
Letter from an Unknown Woman'' (1922), ''
Amok'' (1922), ''
Fear
Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...
'' (1925), ''
Confusion of Feelings'' (1927), ''
Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman'' (1927), the
psychological novel ''Ungeduld des Herzens'' (''
Beware of Pity'', 1939), and ''
The Royal Game'' (1941).
In 1934, as a result of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
's rise in Germany and the establishment of the ''
Ständestaat'' regime in Austria, Zweig emigrated to England and then, in 1940, moved briefly to New York and then to Brazil, where he settled. In his final years, he would declare himself in love with the country, writing about it in the book ''Brazil, Land of the Future''. Nonetheless, as the years passed Zweig became increasingly disillusioned and despairing at the future of Europe, and he and his wife Lotte were found dead of a
barbiturate overdose
Barbiturate overdose is poisoning due to excessive doses of barbiturates. Symptoms typically include difficulty thinking, poor coordination, decreased level of consciousness, and a decreased effort to breathe ( respiratory depression). Complic ...
in their house in
Petrópolis on 23 February 1942; they had died the previous day. His work has been the basis for several film adaptations. Zweig's memoir, (''
The World of Yesterday'', 1942), is noted for its description of life during the waning years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire under
Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
and has been called the most famous book on the
Habsburg Empire.
[Giorgio Manacorda (2010]
''Nota bibliografica''
in Joseph Roth, '' La Marcia di Radetzky'', Newton Classici quotation: "Stefan Zweig, l'autore del più famoso libro sull'Impero asburgico, ''Die Welt von Gestern''
Biography

Zweig was born in Vienna, the son of Ida Brettauer (1854–1938), a daughter of a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
banking family, and Moritz Zweig (1845–1926), a wealthy Jewish textile manufacturer.
[Prof.Dr. Klaus Lohrmann ''"Jüdisches Wien. Kultur-Karte"'' (2003), Mosse-Berlin Mitte gGmbH (Verlag Jüdische Presse)] He was related to the Czech writer
Egon Hostovský, who described him as "a very distant relative"; some sources describe them as cousins.
Zweig studied philosophy at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
and in 1904 earned a doctoral degree with a thesis on "The Philosophy of
Hippolyte Taine
Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (21 April 1828 – 5 March 1893) was a French historian, critic and philosopher. He was the chief theoretical influence on French naturalism, a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitione ...
". Religion did not play a central role in his education. "My mother and father were Jewish only through accident of birth", Zweig said in an interview. Yet he did not renounce his Jewish faith and wrote repeatedly on Jews and Jewish themes, as in his story ''
Buchmendel''. Zweig had a warm relationship with
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...
, the founder of
Zionism
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 ...
, whom he met when Herzl was still literary editor of the ''
Neue Freie Presse'', then Vienna's main newspaper; Herzl accepted for publication some of Zweig's early essays. Zweig, a committed cosmopolitan,
believed in
internationalism and in
Europeanism, as ''
The World of Yesterday'', his autobiography, makes clear: "I was sure in my heart from the first of my identity as a citizen of the world."
Zweig served in the Archives of the Ministry of War and supported Austria's effort for war through his writings in the ''
Neue Freie Presse'' and frequently celebrated in his ''Diaries'' the capture and massacre of opposing soldiers (for instance, writing about the innumerable citizens killed at gunpoint under the suspicion of espionage that "what filth has made ooze must be cauterized with scalding iron".) Zweig judged Serbian soldiers as "hordes" and stated that "one feels proud to talk German" when thousands of French soldiers were captured in Metz. Conversely, in his memoirs, ''
The World of Yesterday'', Zweig portrays himself in the role of pacifist at the time of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, states that he refused "to participate in those rabid calumnies against the enemy" (although, through his work in the official ''
Neue Freie Presse'', Zweig promoted the war propaganda issued from the Austrian crown) and affirms that among his intellectual friends he was "alone" in his stance against the war.
Zweig married
Friderike Maria von Winternitz (born Burger) in 1920; they divorced in 1938. As Friderike Zweig she published a book on her former husband after his death. She later also published a picture book on Zweig. In the late summer of 1939, Zweig married his secretary Elisabet Charlotte "Lotte" Altmann in
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
Zweig's secretary in Salzburg from November 1919 to March 1938 was Anna Meingast (13 May 1881, Vienna – 17 November 1953, Salzburg).

As a Jew, Zweig's high profile did not shield him from the threat of persecution. In 1934, following
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's rise to power in Germany and the establishment of the ''
Ständestaat'', an authoritarian political regime now known as "
Austrofascism", Zweig left Austria for England, living first in London, then from 1939 in Bath. But England was not far enough away from the Nazi threat for Zweig, and in 1940 Zweig and his second wife crossed the Atlantic to the United States, settling in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Zweig was correct to fear that he was target of the Nazis even in England: as part of the preparations for their invasion of England - known as
Operation Seelöwe or Operation Sealion - the SS had prepared a list of persons in the UK to be detained immediately. This so-called ''
Black Book'' came to light after the war; Zweig was listed on page 231, including his London address.
The Zweigs lived only briefly in the US: for two months as guests of
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
, then renting a house in
Ossining,
New York. On 22 August 1940, they moved again to
Petrópolis, a German-colonized mountain town 68 kilometres north of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
.
There, he wrote the book ''Brazil, Land of the Future'' and developed a close friendship with Chilean poet
Gabriela Mistral. Zweig, feeling increasingly depressed about the situation in Europe and the future for humanity, wrote in a letter to author
Jules Romains
Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cyc ...
, "My inner crisis consists in that I am not able to identify myself with the me of passport, the self of exile". He had been despairing at the future of Europe and its culture. He wrote: "I think it better to conclude in good time and in erect bearing a life in which intellectual labour meant the purest joy and personal freedom the highest good on Earth". On 23 February 1942, the Zweigs were found dead of a
barbiturate overdose
Barbiturate overdose is poisoning due to excessive doses of barbiturates. Symptoms typically include difficulty thinking, poor coordination, decreased level of consciousness, and a decreased effort to breathe ( respiratory depression). Complic ...
in their house in the city of Petrópolis, holding hands.

The Zweigs' house in Brazil was later turned into a cultural centre and is now known as
Casa Stefan Zweig
The Casa Stefan Zweig is legally regarded as a private charitable organisation, which was founded in 2006 by a group of interested private donors, to establish a writer's house museum, that is dedicated to the author, in the last residence of St ...
.
Work
Zweig was a prominent writer in the 1920s and 1930s, befriending
Arthur Schnitzler and
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
. He was extremely popular in the United States, South America and Europe, and remains so in continental Europe;
however, he was largely ignored by the British public.
His fame in America had diminished until the 1990s, when there began an effort on the part of several publishers (notably
Pushkin Press, Hesperus Press, and ''
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...
'') to get Zweig back into print in English.
Plunkett Lake Press has reissued electronic versions of his non-fiction works. Since that time there has been a marked resurgence and a number of Zweig's books are back in print.
Critical opinion of his oeuvre is strongly divided between those who praise his humanism, simplicity and effective style,
and those who criticize his literary style as poor, lightweight and superficial.
In a review entitled "Vermicular Dither", German polemicist
Michael Hofmann scathingly attacked the Austrian's work. Hofmann opined that "Zweig just tastes fake. He's the
Pepsi
Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
of Austrian writing." Even the author's suicide note, Hofmann suggested, induces "the irritable rise of boredom halfway through it, and the sense that ''he doesn't mean it'', his heart isn't in it (not even in his suicide)".
Zweig is best known for his novellas (notably ''
The Royal Game'', ''
Amok'', and ''
Letter from an Unknown Woman'' – which was
filmed in 1948 by
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...
), novels (''
Beware of Pity'', ''
Confusion of Feelings'', and the posthumously published ''
The Post Office Girl'') and biographies (notably
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and theologian, educationalist, satirist, and p ...
,
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...
, and
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legit ...
, and also the posthumously published
Balzac). At one time his works were published without his consent in English under the pseudonym "Stephen Branch" (a translation of his real name) when anti-German sentiment was running high. His
1932 biography of Queen
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
was adapted by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
as a
1938 film starring
Norma Shearer.
Zweig's
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
, ''
The World of Yesterday'', was completed in 1942 one day before he died by suicide. It has been widely discussed as a record of "what it meant to be alive between 1881 and 1942" in central Europe; the book has attracted both critical praise
and hostile dismissal.
Zweig acknowledged his debt to psychoanalysis. In a letter dated 8 September 1926, he wrote to
Freud, "Psychology is the great business of my life". He went on explaining that Freud had considerable influence on writers such as
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
,
D.H. Lawrence and
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
, giving them a lesson in "courage" and helping them to overcome their inhibitions. "Thanks to you, we ''see'' many things. – Thanks to you we ''say'' many things which otherwise we would not have seen nor said." He claimed autobiography, in particular, had become "more clear-sighted and audacious".
Zweig enjoyed a close association with
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
and provided the
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
for ''
Die schweigsame Frau'' (''The Silent Woman''). Strauss famously defied the Nazi regime by refusing to sanction the removal of Zweig's name from the programme
[''Richard Strauss/Stefan Zweig: BriefWechsel'', 1957, translated as ''A Confidential Matter'', 1977] for the work's première on 24 June 1935 in
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
. As a result,
Goebbels refused to attend as planned, and the opera was banned after three performances. Zweig later collaborated with
Joseph Gregor to provide Strauss with the libretto for one other opera, ''
Friedenstag'', in 1938. At least one other work by Zweig received a musical setting: the pianist and composer
Henry Jolles, who like Zweig had fled to Brazil to escape the Nazis, composed a song, "Último poema de Stefan Zweig", based on "Letztes Gedicht", which Zweig wrote on the occasion of his 60th birthday in November 1941.
[Biographical sketch of Stefan Zweig at Casa Stefan Zweig]
accessed 28 September 2008 During his stay in Brazil, Zweig wrote ''Brasilien, Ein Land der Zukunft'' (''Brazil, A Land of the Future'') which consisted in a collection of essays on the history and culture of his newly adopted country.
Zweig was a passionate collector of manuscripts. He corresponded at length with Hungarian musicologist
Gisela Selden-Goth, often discussing their shared interest in collecting original music scores.
There are important Zweig collections at the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, at the
State University of New York at Fredonia and at the
National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...
. The British Library's
Stefan Zweig Collection was donated to the library by his heirs in May 1986. It specialises in autograph music manuscripts, including works by
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
,
Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
,
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
, and
Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
. It has been described as "one of the world's greatest collections of autograph manuscripts".
One particularly precious item is
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's "Verzeichnüß aller meiner Werke"
[Mozart's "Verzeichnüß aller meiner Werke"](_blank)
at the British Library Online Gallery accessed 14 October 2009 – that is, the composer's own handwritten thematic catalogue of his works.
The 1993–1994 academic year at the
College of Europe
The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania.
The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...
was named in his honour.
Zweig has been credited with being one of the novelists who contributed to the emergence of what would later be called the
Habsburg myth.
Bibliography

The dates mentioned below are the dates of first publication in German.
Fiction
* ''Forgotten Dreams'', 1900 (Original title: ''Vergessene Träume'')
* ''Spring in the Prater'', 1900 (Original title: ''Praterfrühling'')
* ''A Loser'', 1901 (Original title: ''Ein Verbummelter'')
* ''In the Snow'', 1901 (Original title: ''Im Schnee'')
* ''Two Lonely Souls'', 1901 (Original title: ''Zwei Einsame'')
* ''The Miracles of Life'', 1903 (Original title: ''Die Wunder des Lebens'')
* ''The Love of Erika Ewald'', 1904 (Original title: ''Die Liebe der Erika Ewald'')
* ''The Star Over the Forest'', 1904 (Original title: ''Der Stern über dem Walde'')
* ''The Fowler Snared'', 1906 (Original title: ''Sommernovellette'')
* ''The Governess'', 1907 (Original title: ''Die Governante'')
* ''Scarlet Fever'', 1908 (Original title: ''Scharlach'')
* ''Twilight'', 1910 (Original title: ''Geschichte eines Unterganges'')
* ''A Story Told In Twilight'', 1911, short story (Original title: ''Geschichte in der Dämmerung'')
* ''Burning Secret'', 1913 (Original title: ')
* ''
Fear
Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...
'', 1920 (Original title: ''Angst'')
* ''Compulsion'', 1920 (Original title: ''Der Zwang'')
* ''Fantastic Night'', 1922 (Original title: ''Phantastische Nacht'')
* ''
Letter from an Unknown Woman'', 1922 (Original title: ''Brief einer Unbekannten'')
* ''
Moonbeam Alley'', 1922 (Original title: ''Die Mondscheingasse'')
* ''
Amok'', 1922 (Original title: ''Amok'') – novella, initially published with several others in ''Amok. Novellen einer Leidenschaft''
* ''The Invisible Collection'', 1925 (Original title: ''Die unsichtbare Sammlung'', first published in book form in 'Insel-Almanach auf das Jahr 1927'
)
* ''Downfall of the Heart'', 1927 (Original title: ''Untergang eines Herzens'')
* ''The Refugee'', 1927 (Original title: ''Der Flüchtling. Episode vom Genfer See'').
* ''
Confusion of Feelings'' or ''Confusion: The Private Papers of Privy Councillor R Von D'', 1927 (Original title: ''Verwirrung der Gefühle'') – novella initially published in the volume ''Verwirrung der Gefühle: Drei Novellen''
* ''
Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman'', 1927 (Original title: ''Vierundzwanzig Stunden aus dem Leben einer Frau'') – novella initially published in the volume ''Verwirrung der Gefühle: Drei Novellen''
* ''Widerstand der Wirklichkeit'', 1929 (in English as ''Journey into the Past'' (1976))
* ''
Buchmendel'', 1929 (Original title: ''Buchmendel'')'')''
* ''Short stories'', 1930 (Original title: ''Kleine Chronik. Vier Erzählungen'') – includes ''Buchmendel''
* ''Did He Do It?'', published between 1935 and 1940 (Original title: ''War er es?'')
* ''Leporella'', 1935 (Original title: ''Leporella'')
* ''Collected Stories'', 1936 (Original title: ''Gesammelte Erzählungen'') – two volumes of short stories:
1. ''The Chains'' (Original title: ''Die Kette'')
2. ''Kaleidoscope'' (Original title: ''Kaleidoskop''). Includes: ''Casual Knowledge of a Craft'', ''Leporella'', ''Fear'', ''Burning Secret'', ''Summer Novella'', ''The Governess'', ''Buchmendel'', ''The Refugee'', ''The Invisible Collection'', ''Fantastic Night'', and ''Moonbeam Alley''. ''Kaleidoscope: thirteen stories and novelettes'', published by The Viking Press in 1934, includes some of those just listed — some with differently translated titles — plus others.
* ''Incident on Lake Geneva'', 1936 (Original title: ''Episode am Genfer See'' Revised version of "Der Flüchtung. Episode vom Genfer See", published in 1927)
* ''The Old-Book Peddler and Other Tales for Bibliophiles'', 1937, four pieces (two "clothed in the form of fiction," according to the preface by translator Theodore W. Koch), published by Northwestern University, The Charles Deering Library, Evanston, Illinois:
*# "Books are the Gateway to the World"
*# "The Old-Book Peddler; A Viennese Tale for Bibliophiles" (Original title: ''Buchmendel'')
*# "The Invisible Collection; An Episode from the Post-War Inflation Period" (Original title: ''Die unsichtbare Sammlung'')
*# "Thanks to Books"
* ''
Beware of Pity'', 1939 (Original title: ''Ungeduld des Herzens'') novel
* ''Legends'', a collection of five short stories published in 1945 (Original title: ''Legenden'' – published also as ''Jewish Legends'' with "Buchmendel" instead of "The Dissimilar Doubles":
*# "Rachel Arraigns with God", 1930 (Original title: "Rahel rechtet mit Gott"
*# "The Eyes of My Brother, Forever", 1922 (Original title: "Die Augen des ewigen Bruders")
*# "The Buried Candelabrum", 1936 (Original title: "Der begrabene Leuchter")
*# "The Legend of The Third Dove", 1945 (Original title: "Die Legende der dritten Taube")
*# "The Dissimilar Doubles", 1927 (Original title: "Kleine Legende von den gleich-ungleichen Schwestern")
* ''
The Royal Game'' or ''Chess Story'' or ''Chess'' (Original title: ''Schachnovelle''; Buenos Aires, 1942) – novella written in 1938–41,
* ''Clarissa'', 1981 unfinished novel
* ''The Debt Paid Late'', 1982 (Original title: ''Die spät bezahlte Schuld'')
* ''
The Post Office Girl'', 1982 (Original title: ''Rausch der Verwandlung. Roman aus dem Nachlaß''; ''The Intoxication of Metamorphosis'')
* ''Schneewinter: 50 zeitlose Gedichte'', 2016, editor
Martin Werhand. Melsbach,
Martin Werhand Verlag 2016
Biographies and historical texts
* ''Émile Verhaeren'' (the
Belgian poet), 1910
* ''Three Masters:
Balzac,
Dickens,
Dostoevsky'', 1920 (Original title: ''Drei Meister. Balzac – Dickens – Dostojewski''. Translated into English by Eden and Cedar Paul and published in 1930 as ''Three Masters'')
* ''Romain Rolland: The Man and His Work'', 1921 (Original title: ''
Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...
. Der Mann und das Werk'')
* ''Nietzsche'', 1925 (Originally published in the volume titled: ''Der Kampf mit dem Dämon.
Hölderlin –
Kleist –
Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...
'')
* ''
Decisive Moments in History'', 1927 (Original title: ''Sternstunden der Menschheit''). Translated into English and published in 1940 as ''The Tide of Fortune: Twelve Historical Miniatures''; retranslated in 2013 by Anthea Bell as ''Shooting Stars: Ten Historical Miniatures''
* ''Adepts in Self-Portraiture:
Casanova,
Stendhal,
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
'', 1928 (Original title: ''Drei Dichter ihres Lebens. Casanova – Stendhal – Tolstoi'')
* ''Joseph Fouché'', 1929 (Original title:
Joseph Fouché
Joseph Fouché, 1st Duc d'Otrante, 1st Comte Fouché (; 21 May 1759 – 26 December 1820) was a French statesman, revolutionary, and Minister of Police under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, who later became a subordinate of Emperor Napoleon. H ...
. ''Bildnis eines politischen Menschen'')
* ''Mental Healers:
Franz Mesmer
Franz Anton Mesmer ( ; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorized the existence of a process of natural Energy (esotericism), energy transference occurring between all animate and inanimat ...
,
Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Eddy (née Baker; July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author, who in 1879 founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, the ''Mother Church'' of the Christian Science movement. She also founded ''The C ...
,
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
'', 1932 (Original title: ''Die Heilung durch den Geist. Mesmer, Mary Baker-Eddy, Freud'')
* ''
Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman'', 1932 (Original title: ''Marie Antoinette. Bildnis eines mittleren Charakters'')
* ''Erasmus of Rotterdam'', 1934 (Original title: ''Triumph und Tragik des
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
von Rotterdam'')
* ''
Maria Stuart'', 1935 (also published as: ''The Queen of Scots'' or ''Mary Queen of Scots'')
* ''
A Conscience Against Violence'' or ''The Right to Heresy:
Castellio against
Calvin'', 1936 (Original title: ''Castellio gegen Calvin oder Ein Gewissen gegen die Gewalt'')
* ''Conqueror of the Seas: The Story of
Magellan'', 1938 (Original title: ''Magellan. Der Mann und seine Tat'')
* ''Montaigne'' (the
French philosopher), 1941
* ''Amerigo'', 1942 (Original title: ''
Amerigo. Geschichte eines historischen Irrtums'') – written in 1942, published the day before he died
* ''Balzac'', 1946 – written, as describes in a postscript, in the Brazilian summer capital of
Petrópolis, without access to the files, notebooks, lists, tables, editions and monographs that Zweig accumulated for many years and that he took with him to Bath, but that he left behind when he went to America. Friedenthal wrote that ''Balzac'' "was to be his ''magnum opus'', and he had been working at it for ten years. It was to be a summing up of his own experience as an author and of what life had taught him." Friedenthal claimed that "The book had been finished", though not every chapter was complete; he used a working copy of the manuscript Zweig left behind him to apply "the finishing touches", and Friedenthal rewrote the final chapters (''Balzac'', translated by William and Dorothy Rose
ew York: Viking, 1946 pp. 399, 402).
* ''Paul Verlaine'' (the
French poet
List of poets French poetry, who have written in the French language:
A
Céline Arnauld (1885-1952)
* Louise-Victorine Ackermann (1813–1890)
* Adam de la Halle (v.1250 – v.1285)
* Dominique Aguessy (1937– )
* Pierre Albert-Birot (1876–1 ...
), Copyright 1913, By L. E. Basset Boston, Mass., USA. English translation by O. F. Theis. Luce and Company Boston. Maunsel and Co. Ltd Dublin and London.
Plays
* ''Tersites'', 1907
* ''Das Haus am Meer'', 1912
* ''
Jeremiah
Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...
'', 1917
* ''Ben Jonson's
Volpone
''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perfo ...
. A Loveless Comedy in 3 Acts, freely adapted'', 1928
Other
* ''
The World of Yesterday'' (Original title: ; Stockholm, 1942) – autobiography
* ''Brazil, Land of the Future'' (Original title: ''Brasilien. Ein Land der Zukunft''; Bermann-Fischer, Stockholm 1941)
* ''Journeys'' (Original title: ''Auf Reisen''; Zurich, 1976); collection of essays
* ''Encounters and Destinies: A Farewell to Europe'' (2020); collection of essays
Letters
*
*
Adaptations
The 1924 German
silent film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
''
The House by the Sea'' (''Das Haus am Meer'') directed by was based on Zweig's play of the same name.
The 1933 Austrian-German
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
''
The Burning Secret
''The Burning Secret'' () is a 1933 Austrian-German drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Alfred Abel, Hilde Wagener and Hans Joachim Schaufuß. It was based on the 1913 novella of the same title by Stefan Zweig. It was released ...
'' directed by
Robert Siodmak
Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German Jewish film director. His career spanned some 40 years, working extensively in the United States and France, as well as in his native country. Though he worked in many genres, he was ...
was based on Zweig's short story ''Brennendes Geheimnis.'' The 1988 remake of the same film ''
Burning Secret'' was directed by
Andrew Birkin and starred
Klaus Maria Brandauer and
Faye Dunaway
Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...
.
''
Letter from an Unknown Woman'' was filmed in 1948 by
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...
.
''
Beware of Pity'' was adapted into a 1946 film with
the same title, directed by
Maurice Elvey
Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...
.
''
Letter from an Unknown Woman'' was filmed in 1962 by
Salah Abu Seif
Salah Abu Seif (, ) (May 10, 1915 – June 23, 1996) was a prominent Egyptian film director and screenwriter. He is considered to be the godfather of Neorealism (art), Neorealist cinema in Cinema of Egypt, Egyptian cinema.
Many of the 41 fil ...
.
An adaptation by
Stephen Wyatt of ''Beware of Pity'' was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
The 2012 Brazilian film ''
The Invisible Collection'', directed by Bernard Attal, is based on Zweig's short story of the same title.
The 2013 French film ''
A Promise'' (') is based on Zweig's novella ''Journey into the Past'' (').
The 2013 Swiss film ''
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legit ...
,'' directed by
Thomas Imbach, is based on Zweig's ''Maria Stuart''.
The end-credits for
Wes Anderson
Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...
's 2014 film ''
The Grand Budapest Hotel'' say that the film was inspired in part by Zweig's novels. Anderson said that he had "stolen" from Zweig's novels ''
Beware of Pity'' and ''
The Post Office Girl'' in writing the film, and it features actors
Tom Wilkinson as The Author, a character based loosely on Zweig, and
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films. Law gained international recognition for his role in An ...
as his younger, idealised self seen in flashbacks. Anderson also said that the film's protagonist, the concierge Gustave H., played by
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...
, was based on Zweig. In the film's opening sequence, a teenage girl visits a shrine for The Author, which includes a bust of him wearing Zweig-like spectacles and celebrated as his country's "National Treasure".
The 2017 Austrian-German-French film ''Vor der Morgenröte'' (''
Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe'') chronicles Stefan Zweig's travels in the North and South Americas, trying to come to terms with his exile from home.
The 2018 American short film ''Crepúsculo'' by Clemy Clarke is based on Zweig's short story "A Story Told in Twilight" and relocated to a
quinceañera
In Mexico, Mexican and other Latin American cultures, it is customary to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday. In Spanish language, Spanish, the girl celebrating her 15th birthday is called a ; in English language, English, primarily in the Unite ...
in 1980s New York.
TV film ''La Ruelle au clair de lune'' (1988) by
Édouard Molinaro
Édouard Molinaro (13 May 1928 – 7 December 2013) was a French film director and screenwriter.
Biography
He was born in Bordeaux, Gironde. He is best known for his comedies with Louis de Funès (''Oscar (1967 film), Oscar'', ''Hibernatus''), ...
is an adaptation of Zweig's short-story ''Moonbeam Alley''.
''Schachnovelle'', translated as ''
The Royal Game'' and as ''Chess Story'', was the inspiration for the 1960
Gerd Oswald
Gerd Oswald (June 9, 1919 – May 22, 1989) was a German director of American films and television.
Biography
Born in Berlin, Oswald was the son of German film director Richard Oswald and actress Käthe Oswald. He worked as a child actor be ...
film ''
Brainwashed'', as well as for two Czechoslovakian films—the 1980 ''Královská hra'' (''The Royal Game'') and ''Šach mat (Checkmate),'' made for television in 1964—and for the 2021
Philipp Stölzl film ''Chess Story''.
See also
*
''Le Monde''s 100 Books of the Century, a list which includes ''
Confusion of Feelings''
References
Further reading
* Elizabeth Allday, ''Stefan Zweig: A Critical Biography'', J. Philip O'Hara, Inc., Chicago, 1972,
*
*
Alberto Dines, ''Morte no Paraíso, a Tragédia de Stefan Zweig'', Editora Nova Fronteira 1981, (rev. ed.) Editora Rocco 2004
* Alberto Dines, ''Tod im Paradies. Die Tragödie des Stefan Zweig'', Edition Büchergilde, 2006
* Rüdiger Görner, ''In the Future of Yesterday: A Life of Stefan Zweig'', Haus Publishing, 2024,
* Randolph J. Klawiter, ''Stefan Zweig. An International Bibliography'', Ariadne Press, Riverside, 1991,
* Martin Mauthner, ''German Writers in French Exile, 1933–1940'', Vallentine Mitchell, London 2007,
*
Oliver Matuschek, ''Three Lives: A Biography of Stefan Zweig'', translated by
Allan Blunden, Pushkin Press, 2011,
* Donald A. Prater, ''European of Yesterday: A Biography of Stefan Zweig'', Holes and Meier, (rev. ed.) 2003,
* George Prochnik, ''The Impossible Exile: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World'',
Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, 2014,
* Giorgia Sogos, ''Le Biografie di Stefan Zweig tra Geschichte e Psychologie: Triumph und Tragik des Erasmus von Rotterdam, Marie Antoinette, Maria Stuart'',
Firenze University Press, 2013,
* Giorgia Sogos, ''Ein Europäer in Brasilien zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft. Utopische Projektionen des Exilanten Stefan Zweig'', in: Lydia Schmuck, Marina Corrêa (Hrsg.): Europa im Spiegel von Migration und Exil / Europa no contexto de migração e exílio. Projektionen – Imaginationen – Hybride Identitäten/Projecções – Imaginações – Identidades híbridas, Frank & Timme Verlag, Berlin, 2015,
* Giorgia Sogos, ''Stefan Zweig, der Kosmopolit. Studiensammlung über seine Werke und andere Beiträge. Eine kritische Analyse'', Free Pen Verlag, Bonn, 2017,
* Giorgia Sogos Wiquel, ''L’esilio impossibile. Stefan Zweig alla fine del mondo'', in: Toscana Ebraica. Bimestrale di notizie e cultura ebraica. Anno 34, n. 6. Firenze: Novembre-Dicembre 2021, Cheshwan – Kislew- Tevet 5782,
Firenze
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
, 2022,
* Marion Sonnenfeld (editor), ''The World of Yesterday's Humanist Today. Proceedings of the Stefan Zweig Symposium'', texts by Alberto Dines, Randolph J. Klawiter, Leo Spitzer and Harry Zohn, State University of New York Press, 1983
*
*
Friderike Zweig, ''Stefan Zweig'',
Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1946 (account of his life by his first wife)
External links
StefanZweig.orgStefanZweig.de*
Home page Casa Stefan Zweig
The Casa Stefan Zweig is legally regarded as a private charitable organisation, which was founded in 2006 by a group of interested private donors, to establish a writer's house museum, that is dedicated to the author, in the last residence of St ...
"Stefan Zweig and Chess"by Edward Winter
"No Exit" article on Zweig at ''
Tablet Magazine''
"To Friends in Foreign Land"– Zweig's letter, which he published in the newspaper ''
Berliner Tageblatt'', on September 19, 1914
Zweig's forewordto ''The World of Yesterday''
*
Guide to the Correspondence of Stefan Zweig and Siegmund Georg Warburgat the
Leo Baeck Institute, New York
The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...
*
Libraries
Zweig Music Collection at the British Library
Stefan Zweig Collection at the Daniel A. Reed Library, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, New York
Stefan Zweig Online Bibliography, a wiki hosted by Stefan Zweig Digital, in Salzburg, AustriaStefan Zweig's suicide letteron the
National Library of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more ...
's website
Electronic editions
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zweig, Stefan
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