Lyon Feuchtwanger is considered the founder of a new literary movement in historical romance. In his works containing thoughts about the fate of mankind at different stages of its development, clear parallels with events occurring in the modern world are traced. No less interesting is the biography of the writer, in which there are both military service, and “book auto-da-fe”, and imprisonment in a concentration camp, and much more.
early years
Lyon Feuchtwanger was born on July 7, 1884 in the German city of Munich, in the family of the wealthy manufacturer Sigmund Feuchtwanger and Johanna Bodenheimer, and was the eldest of nine children. His father and mother were Orthodox Jews, and the boy from a young age received deep knowledge about the religion and culture of his people. After graduating from school, Lyon Feuchtwanger entered the University of Munich, where he studied in the specialties of "literature" and "philosophy." He then moved to Berlin to take a course in German philology and Sanskrit.
In 1907, Lyon Feuchtwanger received a Ph.D. degree, defending a dissertation on the work of Heinrich Heine "The Baharach Rabbi."
Carier start
In 1908, Feuchtwanger founded the cultural magazine Zerkalo. This publication had a short life and after the release of 15 issues ceased to exist due to financial problems.
In 1912, the future famous writer married the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant Marte Leffler. Moreover, on the wedding day it was already impossible to hide from the guests that the bride was pregnant. A few months later, Marta gave birth to a daughter, who died shortly after birth.
In November 1914 Feuchtwanger was drafted into the army as a reservist. However, it soon turned out that his health was not all right, and the writer was commissioned. After the war, he met Brecht, with whom he made friends, which lasted until the death of Feuchtwanger.
Biography until 1933
Lyon Feuchtwanger was one of the first to notice the danger posed by National Socialism. Back in 1920, he already satirically presented the visions of Agasfer, in which he described the manifestations of anti-Semitism. In addition, he gave an accurate description of “brown Munich” in the novel “Success”, in which the main character Rupert Kutzner clearly traces the traits of Adolf Hitler.
After some works of Feuchtwanger began to be published outside of Germany, he became quite popular in many countries of Europe. As a result, many universities began to invite him to give lectures.
In November 1932, he ended up in London. There he was to stay for several months, and then go to the United States, where he was also going to give lectures. Thus, at the time the Nazis came to power, Lyon Feuchtwanger was outside of Germany. Having heeded the arguments of friends, the writer decided to settle in the French town of Sanary-sur-Mer, where there was already a small colony of German emigrants who fled due to political or racial persecution. Since English translations of Feuchtwanger's books were published in large editions, he led a comfortable life with his wife Marta, who was his faithful assistant in all matters.
Feuchtwanger's biography before the start of World War II
Meanwhile, in Germany, Feuchtwanger’s name appeared on the list of authors whose books were to be burned, he was deprived of his citizenship, and his property was confiscated.
The hostile attitude towards National Socialism became the writer’s interest in the USSR. Stalinist propaganda could not miss such a chance and invited Feuchtwanger to visit Moscow, as well as to tour the country in order to see with his own eyes what success the first in the world “State of Workers and Peasants” had achieved. As part of a visit to the USSR, the writer even interviewed the Leader of the Nations.
Returning to France, Lyon Feuchtwanger, whose books in the Soviet Union immediately began to be published in millions of copies, published his conversation with Stalin. In addition, he wrote the book “Moscow. 1937 ”, in which he shared with European readers his vision of life in the USSR. On its pages, he constantly made comparisons between what he was shown and the state of affairs in Germany. Moreover, comparisons for the most part were not in favor of the latter.
The escape
In 1940, German troops entered France. Lyon Feuchtwanger, as a former German citizen, was interned by the French in a camp located in Le Mill. As the Wehrmacht army progressed, it became clear that most prisoners face death if they find themselves in occupied territory. Then some of them were transported to a camp near Nimes. There, Lyon Feuchtwanger and his wife were assisted by employees of the American embassy. They took out false documents and, having changed the clothes of the writer in a woman’s dress, they took them out of the country. At the same time, Lyon and his wife had to endure many adventures, since at first they hid for a long time in Marseille, and then were forced to make their way through Spain and Portugal.
Life in the USA
In 1943, Lyon Feuchtwanger, whose books were extremely popular in the United States, settled in the Villa Aurora in California. There he worked a lot and created his most interesting works. In addition, thanks to the large fees paid by book publishers and studios filming his novels, Feuchtwanger has put together a luxurious library of more than 20,000 volumes.
If the Nazis hated the writer for racial reasons, then in the post-war USA he was suspected of sympathy for the Communists. During this period, Feuchtwanger’s ability as a predictor was once again manifested, since long before the start of The Witch Hunt, he had written the play Mortification, or the Devil in Boston, in which he spoke out against the Cold War and its methods.
last years of life
Despite the fact that the writer Lyon Feuchtwanger did not intend to return to Germany, thanks to his anti-fascist views, he was very popular in the GDR. In 1953, he was even awarded the main prize of this country in the field of literature.
In 1957, the writer was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The best doctors of that time, who underwent several surgical operations, were brought to Feuchtwanger’s treatment. Attempts to cope with the disease were unsuccessful, and the writer died in 1958 from internal bleeding.
Pre-war work
In the early years of his writing career, Lyon Feuchtwanger created many plays, which he himself assessed as rather mediocre. Following this, he became interested in writing journalistic articles and reviews, which made it possible, as it were, from the side to look at his own work. In the same period, Feuchtwanger first thought about the possibility of creating a realistic historical novel, to which he was inspired by the works of the Mann brothers.
At the same time, although the plots belonged to different eras, they were united by a view of modernity through the prism of history. At the same time, the works of Lyon Feuchtwanger, written after the First World War and the Bavarian Revolution, are devoid of aesthetics and are close to realism. They often reflect the personal tragedy of a humanistic person in a cruel society. In particular, the first novel written by Lyon Feuchtwanger - “The Ugly Duchess” is devoted to this topic.
The next work of the writer was the novel "Jewish Suess", which is dedicated to events taking place in Germany in the 18th century. He brought him world fame, and at the same time they began to accuse him of anti-Semitism and Jewish nationalism. Both that and another only whipped up the writer’s interest in the history of his people. The result was a trilogy about Josephus Flavius, which was published in many countries.
True to his desire to reflect modernity, pushing it back in time, after forced emigration to France, the writer created the novel False Nero, in the main character of which many recognized the Fuhrer.
Creativity in the postwar years
After moving to the USA, the writer continued to work hard and actively. In particular, in 1947, the novel Foxes in the Vineyard appeared. Lyon Feuchtwanger described in it the events taking place "behind the scenes" of the War of Independence. This was his first post-war work, in which many saw parallels with the organization of Lend-Lease.
After 4 years, the writer wrote his most famous work - “Goya, or the Hard Way of Knowledge”. Lyon Feuchtwanger described in him the life and work of a famous Spanish artist. The novel was a huge success all over the world and was repeatedly filmed.
Even in the last year of his life, the seriously ill Feuchtwanger continued to create. From morning to night, he dictated to the stenographer “The Spanish Ballad” about the love of King Alfonso of Spain of Spain for the commoner Fermoze.