Kraus, Karl#

b. Jičín, Czech Republic (then Gitschin), April 28, 1874, d. Vienna, June 12, 1936; essayist, poet, dramatist; wrote aphorisms. Son of a Jewish merchant and manufacturer, studied law and philosophy at the University of Vienna, then turned to acting and reciting. First known as a vehement critic of the group Jung-Wien ("Die demolirte Litteratur", 1897), founded the literary and political review Fackel, Die " in 1899, of which he was sole author from 1911. His committed criticism of the destruction of cultural tradition, false ideology and the use of language was aimed especially at the untruthful, sensationalist press, at the complacent Austrian middle class ("Sittlichkeit und Kriminalitaet", 1908) at unscrupulous warmongering, as well as at all forms of ethically or aesthetically questionable literature ("Literatur und Luege", 1929. Was an advocate of the works of J. Nestroy, J. Offenbach and W. Shakespeare (translated some of his dramas and sonnets). Had a personal and intellectual affinity to P. Altenberg and A. Loos. In his epochal satirical drama "Die letzten Tage der Menschheit" (1918/19) he denounced war for its inhumanity by using quotations by eminent personalities. Also noted for his famous recitations and lectures based on his own works or by other authors and became the recognized moral and artistic authority of his time.

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