Améry, Jean eigentlich Hans Mayer#
b. Vienna, Oct. 31, 1912, d. Salzburg, Oct. 17, 1978 (suicide), writer. Emigrated to Belgium in 1938; 1941-1943 member of the Belgian resistance movement; detained by the Gestapo, until 1945 interned in various concentration camps; returned to Brussels and took up writing. Honoured with several international literary awards for his work reflecting a critique of contemporary society and the position of the intellectual in the wake of the Holocaust. In 2000 the newly endowed Jean Amery Prize, an annual prize for essay writing, was awarded for the first time.
Works#
Karrieren und Koepfe, 1954; Jenseits von Schuld und Suehne, 1966; Ueber das Altern, 1968; Unmeisterliche Wanderjahre, 1971; Widersprueche, 1971; Hand an sich legen, 1976; Charles Bovary, Landarzt, 1978.Literature#
I. Heidelberger-Leonhard (ed.), Ueber J. A., 1990; I. Hermann, J. A., der Grenzgaenger, 1992; S. Steiner (ed.), J. A., 1996; P. S. Fiero, Schreiben gegen Schweigen. Grenzerfahrungen in J. A. autobiographischem Werk, 1997.