Alfred Polgar

Alfred Polgar ( born October 17, 1873 in Vienna, † April 24, 1955 in Zurich; actually Alfred Polak, pseudonyms Archibald Douglas, LA Terne ) was an Austrian writer, aphorisms, critic and translator. He is one of the most famous authors of Viennese Modernism.

Life

Alfred Polgar was born in Vienna's 2nd district Leopoldstadt, the youngest of three children of assimilated Jews. His parents, Joseph and Henriette Polak, born Steiner, operated a piano school. After high school and trade school Polgar in 1895 was editor of the Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung, where he initially worked as a court and parliamentary reporter. Later he was editor at the resort feature.

From 1905, Alfred Polgar wrote regularly for Siegfried Jacob son magazine The stage ''. In addition, he also worked as a writer for the cabaret. For the Cabaret Fledermaus he wrote together with Egon Friedell successful, humorististische piece Goethe. A grotesque in two images (1908), in which the teaching of literature in schools is parodied by the fact that appears Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to a literature exam on his life and work - and fall through. Also in 1908 appeared Polgar's first book, The source of evil. The place where Polgar at this time most perverse, the Café Central, where he was to be found in the company of Peter Altenberg, Anton Kuh, Adolf Loos and Egon Friedell and he found much material for his astute observations and analyzes was.

Polgar was also active as an editor and translator of plays, some of Nestroy, and translated in 1913 Ferenc Molnár's Liliom piece from Hungarian into German. He transferred the plot to the Wiener Prater and added a prologue, which paved the way for the worldwide success so far unsuccessful piece with a triumphant premiere on 28 February 1913 at the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna.

During the First World War, Alfred Polgar worked in the Military Archives, but also continued to write for newspapers, including the German -speaking Hungarian newspaper Pester Lloyd. After the end of the war he was in the newspaper The New Day Chief of the arts section. He also worked on Stefan Großmanns with the day - book. Together with Egon Friedell he wrote in 1921, the bad guys journal. In the 1920s Polgar lived mostly in Berlin. Many of his articles appeared at this time in the Berliner Tageblatt and the Prague daily paper. In October 1929, he married the Viennese Elise Loewy, née Müller.

After Hitler came to power in Germany his books were burned and Polgar had to return to Vienna via Prague. In 1938 he was again forced after the Anschluss, to take flight. About Zurich he emigrated to Paris and joined the league for the spiritual Austria ( Ligue de l' Autriche Vivante ), who also belonged to Fritz Brügel, Gina Kaus, EA Rheinhardt, Joseph Roth and Franz Werfel.

After the German invasion of France in 1940, he fled to Marseilles, whence it with the help of the Emergency Rescue Committee on Spain and Lisbon emigration succeeded in the U.S. in October 1940.

In Hollywood, he worked as a screenwriter for Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer. From 1943 he lived in New York, where he became an American citizen. He wrote for newspapers exile, such as building, and American magazines such as Time and panoramic in Buenos Aires.

In 1949 he returned to Europe as an American citizen and settled in Zurich. He also published again for German -language newspapers. In Zurich he was later buried on the cemetery Sihlfeld.

Awards

Works

  • The source of the trouble and other stories. Publisher of literature and art; Munich 1908.
  • Movement is everything. Short stories and sketches. Literary Institute Rütten & Loening; Frankfurt am Main, 1909.
  • Job. A collection of short stories. Albert Langen; Munich 1912.
  • Liliom. Suburban legend in 7 images, and a scenic prologue. ( Translation and adaptation of the play by Franz Molnar ). German - Austrian Vlg, Vienna / Leipzig 1912.
  • Small time. Fritz Gurlitt; Berlin 1919.
  • Max Pallenberg. Erich Reiss Verlag; Berlin 1921.
  • Orchestra from above. E. Rowohlt; Berlin 1926: This volume of new sketches is augmented by some pieces that older books of the author are taken.
  • Written in the margin. E. Rowohlt; Berlin 1926.
  • Yes and No ( four volumes). E. Rowohlt; Berlin in 1926/27.
  • I am a witness. E. Rowohlt; Berlin 1927.
  • Black on white. E. Rowohlt; Berlin 1929.
  • Hinterland. E. Rowohlt; Berlin 1929.
  • On this occasion. E. Rowohlt; Berlin 1930.
  • Views. rowohlt; Berlin 1933.
  • In the meantime. Allert de Lange; Amsterdam 1935.
  • Second hand. Humanitas Publishing House; Zurich 1937.
  • Manual of the critic. Oprecht; Zurich 1938.
  • Stories without morals. Oprecht; Zurich 1943.
  • On the other hand. Querido Verlag; Amsterdam 1948.
  • Encounter in the twilight. Del Rey; Berlin 1951.
  • Points of view. rowohlt; Hamburg 1953.
  • Window seat. rowohlt; Berlin 1959.
  • In a passing car. Books Gutenberg; Frankfurt am Main in 1960.
  • Seen in the light. rowohlt; Reinbek 1970; Compiled by Bernt judge.
  • The mission of the balloons. Sketches and considerations. Publisher nation and world; Berlin 1975.
  • Pocket mirror. Löcker; Vienna 1979.
  • Stalls. Löcker; Vienna 1980.
  • Dear friend! Sign of life from a foreign land. Zsolnay; Vienna, Hamburg 1981.
  • Small fonts. Edited by Marcel Reich- Ranicki and Ulrich Weinzierl, Rowohlt; Reinbek 1982-1986, six volumes: pattern
  • Circulation
  • Irrlicht
  • Literature
  • Theatre I
  • Theater II
Wiener Moderne Feuilleton Siegfried Jacobsohn Prager Tagblatt Aufbau Harry Rowohlt Neue Deutsche Biographie Integrated Authority File
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