Werfel, Franz#

b. Prague (Czech Republic), Sept. 10, 1890, d. Beverly Hills (USA), Aug. 26, 1945, writer. One of the best known German-speaking authors of the period between the world wars; in Prague was a friend of F. Kafka and M. Brod. Reader at the K.-Wolff publishing house in 1912, in World War I soldier in eastern Galicia, member of the "Red Guards" of E. E. Kisch in Nov. 1918. Married A. M. Mahler-Werfel in 1929, emigrated to France in 1938 and to the USA in 1940. Books of poems, such as "Der Weltfreund" (1911), "Wir sind" (1913) and "Einander" (1915) made him one of the main representatives of Expressionism, while his psychologizing dramas ("Spiegelmensch", 1921; "Bocksgesang", 1922) achieved only mediocre success. His extensive epic work was written between 1920 and 1945. In novels, such as "Nicht der Moerder, der Ermordete ist schuldig" (1920) or "Hoeret die Stimme" (1937), W. sometimes uses historical subjects to show social developments of his period. Recurrent themes are human brotherhood and the struggle for Christian ethic ("Die 40 Tage des Musa Dagh" (The Forty Days of Musa Dagh), 1933), as well as perspicacious criticism of contemporary issues ("Barbara oder Die Froemmigkeit", 1929). In "Verdi" (1924) he attempts to interweave poetry and music. A novel about his travels, with autobiographic features, "Stern der Ungeborenen", was published posthumously in 1946.

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Literature#