Johannes Urzidil
Urzidil, Johannes (Prague, 1896-1970, Rome), was educated in Prague, where he studied Germanistik, history of art, and Slavonic languages, before turning to journalism and writing, beginning with poetry influenced by Expressionism and published under the pseudonym Hans Elmar. Urzidil, who counted F. Werfel and Kafka among his friends, worked as correspondent and editor (of the monthly Der Mensch), and adviser to the press section of the German embassy (from 1922 to 1933). In 1939, when Czechoslovakia was occupied by National Socialist Germany, he emigrated to England, moving in 1941 to the USA; in 1946 he acquired US citizenship.
Although Urzidil published collections of his poetry (Sturz der Verdammten, 1919; Die Stimme, 1930; Die Memnonsäule, 1957), his real significance lies in his narrative work which, written in exile, is steeped in the tradition of his native Bohemia and Prague, the ‘lost beloved’ of the title of the collection of stories, Die verlorene Geliebte (1956). His Novelle Der Trauermantel (1945 and 1955) deals freely with the early life of A. Stifter (the butterfly of the title, the Camberwell Beauty, is a motif in his work). His Prager Triptychon (1960) consists of sketches of life in Prague in the 1920s, to which the terms for the components of an altar-piece are applied: they are predella (‘Relief der Stadt’), left panel (‘Die Causa Wellner’), shrine (‘Weißenstein Karl’), right panel (‘Vermächtnis eines Jünglings’), and Gesprenge or decorative superstructure (‘Die Zauberflöte’, which is concerned with a performance of Mozart's opera). Other works include the story Denkwürdigkeiten von Gibacht (1958), the biographical work Goethe in Böhmen (1932, extended 1962) and Goethe's Amerikabild (1958), the collections Das Elefantenblatt (1962), Entführung (1964), Die erbeuteten Frauen (1966), and Bist du es, Ronald? (1968). His only novel, Das große Halleluja (1959) is concerned with the life of an emigrant in North America. His essays include Da geht Kafka (1965, extended 1966) and The living contribution of Jewish Prague to modern German literature (1968). Väterliches aus Prag und Handwerkliches aus New York (1969) is a volume of reminiscences. Posthumous publications include the collection of stories Die letzte Tombola (1971), and the select editions Morgen fahr' ich heim (1971) and Bekenntnisse eines Pedanten. Erzählungen und Essays aus dem autobiographischen Nachlaß (1972, with an introduction by H. Jacobi).
Urzidil was awarded a number of prizes, including the Charles Veillon Prize (1957) and the Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis (1964).
