Erich Maria Remarque
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| Erich Maria Remarque | |
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| Born | June 22, 1898 Osnabrück, Germany |
| Died | September 25, 1970 (aged 72) Locarno, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | German |
| Notable work(s) | All Quiet on the Western Front |
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Erich Maria Remarque (June 22, 1898 – September 25, 1970), a German author.
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[edit] Life
Erich Paul Remark was born in into a working-class family in the German town of Osnabruck. He was conscripted into the army at the age of 18.
On 12 June, 1917 he was transferred to the Western Front, 2nd Company, Reserves, Field Depot of the 2nd Reserves Guards Division at Hem-Lenglet. On 26 June, he was stationed between Torhout and Houthulst, Trench Battalion Bethe (Name of commander), 2nd Company of the 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment. On 31 July he was wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, right arm and neck, and repatriated to an army hospital in Germany, where he spent the rest of the war.[1]
After the war he changed his last name to Remarque, which had been the family-name until his grandfather changed it due to 19th Century German xenophobia. He worked at a number of different jobs, including librarian, businessman, teacher, journalist and editor.
In 1929, Remarque published his most famous work, All Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues) under the name Erich Maria Remarque (changing his middle name in honor of his mother). The novel described the utter cruelty of the war from the perspective of a twenty year-old soldier. A number of similar works followed; in simple, emotive language they described wartime and the postwar years.
In 1933, the Nazis banned and burned Remarque's works, and issued propaganda stating that he was a descendant of French Jews and that his real last name was Kramer, a Jewish-sounding name, and his original name spelled backwards. This is still listed in some biographies despite the complete lack of proof. Also despite clear evidence to the contrary, their assertion that he had never seen active service remains in some references.
Remarque had been living in Switzerland since 1931, and in 1939 he emigrated to the United States of America with his first wife, Ilsa Jeanne Zamboui, whom he married and divorced twice, and they became naturalized citizens of the United States in 1947. In 1948 he went back to Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1958, Douglas Sirk directed the film A Time to Love and a Time to Die in Germany, based on Remarque's novel A Time to Live and a Time to Die. Remarque makes a cameo appearance in this film in the role of the Professor. He married the Hollywood actress Paulette Goddard in 1958 and they remained married until his death in 1970 at age 72. He is interred in the Ronco cemetery in Ronco, Ticino, Switzerland, where Goddard is also interred. Goddard left a bequest of $20 million to New York University to fund an institute for European study which is named after Remarque. The first Director of The Remarque Institute was Professor Tony Judt.
[edit] Works
Note: the dates are those of the first publications in a book form
- 1920 – Die Traumbude. Ein Künstlerroman; English translation: The Dream Room
- 1928 – Station am Horizont; English translation: Last Stage on the Horizon
- 1929 – Im Westen nichts Neues; English translation: All Quiet on the Western Front
- 1931 – Der Weg zurück; English translation: The Road Back
- 1937 – Drei Kameraden; English translation: Three Comrades
- 1941 – Liebe deinen Nächsten; English translation: Flotsam
- 1946 – Arc de Triomphe; English translation: Arch of Triumph
- 1952 – Der Funke Leben; English translation: The Spark of Life
- 1954 – Zeit zu leben und Zeit zu sterben; English translation: A Time to Live and a Time to Die
- 1956 – Der schwarze Obelisk; English translation: The Black Obelisk
- 1956 – Die letzte Station; English translation: Full Circle - play
- 1961 – Der Himmel kennt keine Günstlinge; English translation: Heaven Has No Favorites
- 1962 – Die Nacht von Lissabon; English translation: The Night in Lisbon
- 1971 – Schatten im Paradies; English translation: Shadows in Paradise
- 1988 – Die Heimkehr des Enoch J. Jones; English translation: The Return of Enoch J. Jones
- 1995 – Der Feind; English translation: The Enemy, originally published in Collier's from 1930-1931 in serial format, these stories are not currently available in book form.
His books have been translated into at least 58 languages.
[edit] References
- ^ Remarque Frieden-Zentrum.
[edit] Further reading
- Mariana Parvanova, "... das Symbol der Ewigkeit ist der Kreis." Eine Untersuchung der Motive in den Romanen von Erich Maria Remarque. Tenea, Berlin, ISBN 3-86504-028-4 (in German)
[edit] External links
- multilingual pages about Erich Maria Remarque
- Erich Maria Remarque and Adolf Hitler experiences of WW1
- All Quiet on the Western Front notes
- Book Notes for A Time to Love and a Time to Die at Literapedia
- Erich Maria Remarque at Find A Grave
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Remarque, Erich Maria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Remark, Erich Paul |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | German Novelist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 22, 1898 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Osnabrück, Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 25, 1970 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Locarno, Switzerland |
