Gregor von Rezzori born Gregor Arnulph Hilarius d'Arezzo (13th May 1914 - 23rd April 1998) was a German-language novelist, memoirist, screenplay author, actor, broadcast author, journalist, visual artist, art critique and art collector.
Biography
Gregor von Rezzori was born in Chernivtsi in the region of Bukowina, then Austria-Hungary. He originated in a sicilian aristocratic family from the Province of Ragusa, which settled in Wien in the mid 18th century. His father was an Austrian civil servant based in Chernivtsi. After the World War I Rezzori studied in colleges in Braşov, Fürstenfeld and Wien. He began studying mining at the University of Leoben, than architecture and medicine in Wien, where he eventually graduated in arts. Mid 1930 he returned to Bucharest, performed military service and made a living as an artist. In 1938 he moved to Berlin, where he became active as a novelist, journalist, writer in radio broadcasting and movie production. During the war he was not enrolled, not being a German citizen. Up to the mid 1950s he worked as an author at the broadcast company Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk. He regularly published novels and stories, also being engaged in film production as a screenplay author and actor (playing along with Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, Anna Karina, Marcello Mastroianni or Charles Aznavour[1]). Beginning with the early 1960s Rezzori lived between Rome and Paris, with sojourns in the USA, eventually settling in Tuscany. Beside authoring and performing he engaged along with his spouse Beatrice Monti della Corte in significant art gallery activities also founding the “Santa Maddalena Retreat for Writers”. He was fluent in German, Romanian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Yiddish, French and English. During his life, he was in turn a citizen of Austria-Hungary, Romania, Soviet Union, a stateless person and a citizen of Austria. He died in Santa Maddalena (Donnini) by Florence.
The Writer
Rezzori began his career as a writer of light novels, but his first success came in 1953 with the “Maghrebinian Tales”, a suite of droll stories and anecdotes from an imaginary land called "Maghrebinia", which reunited in a grotesque and parodistic key traits of his multicultural Bukovinian birthplace, of extinct Austria-Hungary and of Bucharest of his youth. Over the years, Rezzori published further “Maghrebinian Tales” which increased his reputation of language virtuosity and free spirit, writing with wit, insight and elegance [2] Further novels, like “The Death of my Brother Abel”, “Oedipus at Stalingrad” or “The Snows Of Yesteryear” chronicled the history of the fading world from the time of the world wars with impressive power of description, grasp of nuance and stylistic mastery. [3] He first came to the attention of English-speaking readers with the 1969 publication of "Memoirs of an Anti-Semite", partially written in English. On this occasion, Elie Wiesel, who originated in the Bukovina’s neighbouring Maramureş wrote:
Rezzori addresses the major problems of our time, and his voice echoes with the disturbing and wonderful magic of a true storyteller.[4]
In the “Guide for Idiots through the German society” he confirms his remarkable satiric vein. Though he was not unanimously perceived as a major author in the German-speaking area, his posthumous reception definitely ranges him among the most important modern German-language authors. [3]
Awards and Distinctions
Bibliography
- Flamme, die sich verzehrt, novel, 1940 (Self-exctincting Flame)
- Rombachs einsame Jahre, novel, 1942 (Rombach’s Lonely Years)
- Rose Manzani, novel, 1944
- Maghrebinische Geschichten, 1953 (Tales of Maghrebinia)
- Ödipus siegt bei Stalingrad, 1954 (Oedipus at Stalingrad)
- Männerfibel, 1955
- Ein Hermelin in Tschernopol. Ein maghrebinischer Roman, 1958 (The Hussar)
- Bogdan im Knoblauchwald. Ein maghrebinisches Märchen, 1962 (Bogdan in the Garlic Forrest. A Maghrebinian Tale)
- Die Toten auf ihre Plätze. Tagebuch des Films Viva Maria, 1966 (The Dead on their Places. Journal of the Movie “Viva Maria”)
- 1001 Jahr Maghrebinien. Eine Festschrift, 1967 (1001 Year Maghrebinia. A Festschrift)
- Der Tod meines Bruders Abel, novel, 1976 (The Death of My Brother Abel)
- Greif zur Geige, Frau Vergangenheit, novel, 1978
- Memoiren eines Antisemiten, novel, 1979 (The Memoirs of an Anti-Semite)
- Der arbeitslose König. Maghrebinisches Märchen, 1981 (The Jobles King. Maghrebinian Tale)
- A Stranger in Lolitaland. An Essay, first published in English in the periodical Vanity Fair, then in Best American Essays, 1987.
- Blumen im Schnee – Portraitstudien zu einer Autobiographie, die ich nie schreiben werde. Auch: Versuch der Erzählweise eines gleicherweise nie geschriebenen Bildungsromans, autobiographical essays, 1989 (The Snows Of Yesteryear)
- Über dem Kliff, stories, 1991 (Beyond the Cliff)
- Idiotenführer durch die deutsche Gesellschaft. Hochadel, Adel, Schickeria, Prominenz, 1992 (Guide for Idiots through the German Society. Aristocracy, Swells, Notables)
- Begegnungen, 1992 (Encounters)
- Greisengemurmel. Ein Rechenschaftsbericht, 1994
- Italien, Vaterland der Legenden, Mutterland der Mythen. Reisen durch die europäischen Vaterländer oder wie althergebrachte Gemeinplätze durch neue zu ersetzen sind, 1996
- Frankreich. Gottesland der Frauen und der Phrasen. Reisen durch die europäischen Vaterländer oder wie althergebrachte Gemeinplätze durch neue zu ersetzen sind, 1997
- Mir auf der Spur, 1997 (On my Own Traces)
- Kain. Das letzte Manuskript, novel, 2001 (posthumous)
Filmography
Screenwriter
- Kopfjäger von Borneo, 1936
- Unter den Sternen von Capri, 1953
- Labyrinth, 1959
- The Dear Augustin, 1959
- Sturm im Wasserglas, 1960
- Man nennt es Amore , 1961
- Geliebte Hochstaplerin, 1961
- Die Herren, 1965
- Mord und Totschlag, 1967
Actor
- Sie, 1954,
- Directed by Rolf Thiele, with Marina Vlady, Walter Giller, Nadja Tiller
- El Hakim, 1957
- Directed by Rolf Thiele, with O.W. Fischer, Michael Ande, Nadja Tiller
- Paprika, 1959
- Directed by Kurt Wilhelm with Willy Hagara, Violetta Ferrari
- Labyrinth, 1959
- Directed by Rolf Thiele, with Nadja Tiller, Peter van Eyck, Amedeo Nazzari
- Bezaubernde Arabella, 1959
- Directed by Axel von Ambesser, with Johanna von Koczian, Carlos Thompson, Hilde Hildebrand
- Das Riesenrad, 1961,
- Directed by Géza von Radványi, with Maria Schell, O.W. Fischer, Adrienne Gessner
- Destination Rome, 1962
- Directed by Denys de La Patellière, with Arletty, Charles Aznavour, Monique Bert
- A Very Private Affair, 1962
- Directed by Louis Malle, with Brigitte Bardot, Marcello Mastroianni
- Games of Desire, 1964
- Directed by Hans Albin and Peter Berneis, with Claudine Auger, Cecilie Gelers
- Un mari à un prix fixe, 1965
- Directed by Claude de Givray, with Anna Karina, Roger Hanin
- Viva Maria!, 1965
- Directed by Louis Malle, and Jean-Claude Carrière, with Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau
- Man on Horseback, 1969
- Directed by Volker Schlöndorff, with David Warner, Anna Karina
- Ein Bißchen Liebe, 1974
- Directed by Veith von Fürstenberg, with Brigitte Berger, Eva Maria Herzig
- Le beau monde, 1981
- Directed by -Michel Polac, with Fabrice Luchini, Judith Magre
Secondary literature
- Valentina Glajar, The German legacy in East Central Europe as recorded in recent German literature. Columbia, SC: Camden House, 2004
- Katarzyna Ja´stal, Erzählte Zeiträume. Kindheitserinnerungen aus den Randgebieten der Habsburgermonarchie von Manès Sperber, Elias Canetti und Gregor von Rezzori. Kraków, Aureus, 1998
- Gerhard Köpf, Vor-Bilder. Tübinger Poetik-Vorlesung. Tübingen: Konkursbuchverl, 1999
- Jacques Lajarrige: Gregor von Rezzori. Etudes réunies. Mont-Saint-Aignan: Univ. de Rouen, Centre d'Études et de Recherches Autrichiennes 2003
- Gilbert Ravy, Rezzori et la France, in: Austriaca Nr. 54 (2002), 41-58
References
- ^ Gregor von Rezzori in The Internet Movie Database
- ^ Killy, W. (Ed.) Literaturlexikon, Lexikon Verlag, 2001, Vol. 9, p. 410
- ^ a b Kraft, Th., (Ed.) Lexikon der deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur seit 1945, München, Nymphenburger, 2003, p. 1027 – 1029
- ^ Gregor von Rezzori at Massachusets Institute of Technology, in MIT Tech Talk, Nov 20, Vol 41, Nr 12, 1996