David Riesman
American sociologist and educator
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian writer who reached the height of his literary career in the 1920s and 1930s, becoming one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world. He wrote historical studies, biographies, and acclaimed fiction works, before ultimately taking his own life in 1942 as a result of his disillusionment with the state of Europe.
Table of Contents
About the Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweigwas an Austrian writer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world.
Zweig was raised in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He wrote historical studies of famous literary figures, such as Honore de Balzac, Charles Dickens, and Fyodor Dostoevsky in Drei Meisterand Marie Antoinette (Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman, 1932), among others. Zweig’s best-known fiction includes Letter from an Unknown Woman (1922), Amok (1922), Fear (1925), Confusion of Feelings (1927), Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman (1927), the psychological novel Ungeduld des Herzens (Beware of Pity, 1939), and The Royal Game (1941).
In 1934, as a result of the Nazi Party’s rise in Germany and the establishment of the Standestaat regime in Austria, Zweig emigrated to England and then, in 1940, moved briefly to New York and then to Brazil, where he settled. In his final years, he would declare himself in love with the country, writing about it in the book Brazil, Land of the Future. Nonetheless, as the years passed Zweig became increasingly disillusioned and despairing at the future of Europe, and he and his wife Lotte were found dead of a barbiturate overdose in their house in Petropolis on 23 February 1942; they had died the previous day. His work has been the basis for several film adaptations. Zweig’s memoir, Die Welt von Gestern (The World of Yesterday, 1942), is noted for its description of life during the waning years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire under Franz Joseph I and has been called the most famous book on the Habsburg Empire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stefan Zweig was born on November 28, 1881.
Stefan Zweig was known for writing historical studies of famous literary figures, biographies, and acclaimed fiction works like Letter from an Unknown Woman, Amok, and The Royal Game.
As a result of the Nazi party’s rise in Germany and the establishment of the Ständestaat regime in Austria, Stefan Zweig emigrated to England in 1934, and then later moved to New York and Brazil.
Stefan Zweig and his wife Lotte were found dead of a barbiturate overdose in their house in Petrópolis, Brazil on February 23, 1942, having died the previous day.
Stefan Zweig’s memoir, Die Welt von Gestern (The World of Yesterday, 1942), is noted for its description of life during the waning years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and has been called the most famous book on the Habsburg Empire.
At the height of his literary career in the 1920s and 1930s, Stefan Zweig was one of the most widely translated and popular writers in the world.
As the years passed, Stefan Zweig became increasingly disillusioned and despairing at the future of Europe, which contributed to his tragic death.
16 Quotes by Stefan Zweig
- 1.
Often the presence of mind and energy of a person remote from the spotlight decide the course of history for centuries to come.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 2.
One must be convinced to convince, to have enthusiasm to stimulate the others.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 3.
In history, the moments during which reason and reconciliation prevail are short and fleeting.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 4.
Every wave, regardless of how high and forceful it crests, must eventually collapse within itself.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 5.
Fate is never too generous even to its favorites. Rarely do the gods grant a mortal more than one immortal deed.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 6.
The idea of Jewish unity, of a plan, an organization, unfortunately exists only in the brains of Hitler and Streicher.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 7.
Today, for a Jew who writes in the German language, it is totally impossible to make a living. In no group do I see as much misery, disappointment, desperation and hopelessness as in Jewish writers who write in German.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 8.
The free, independent spirit who commits himself to no dogma and will not decide in favor of any party has no homestead on earth.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 9.
Only the person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, rise and fall, only that person has truly experienced life.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 10.
Only the misfortune of exile can provide the in-depth understanding and the overview into the realities of the world.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 11.
When they are preparing for war, those who rule by force speak most copiously about peace until they have completed the mobilization process.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 12.
Never can the innate power of a work be hidden or locked away. A work of art can be forgotten by time; it can be forbidden and rejected but the elemental will always prevail over the ephemeral.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 13.
In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 14.
It would be foolhardy to count on the conscience of the world.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 15.
There is no sense to a sacrifice after you come to feel that it is a sacrifice.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)
- 16.
Now I am discovering the world once more. England has widened my horizon.
Stefan ZweigAustrian writer (1881-1942)