Gregor von Rezzori (born Gregor Arnulph Hilarius d'Arezzo; May 13, 1914 - April 23, 1998) was an Austrian-born German-language novelist, memoirist, screenwriter and author of radio plays, as well as an actor, journalist, visual artist, art critic and art collector. He was fluent in German, Romanian, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Yiddish, French, and English; during his life, von Rezzori was successively a citizen of Austria-Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union, before becoming a stateless person and spending his final years as a citizen of Austria. He married Beatrice Monti della Corte.

Biography more less

Literary Works more less

Rezzori began his career as a writer of light novels, but he first encountered success 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 parodic 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.

Other books, such as The Death of My Brother Abel, Oedipus at Stalingrad, or The Snows of Yesteryear, recording the fading world at the time of the World Wars, have been celebrated for their powerful descriptive prose, nuance and style.

Von Rezzori first came to the attention of English-speaking readers with the 1969 publication of the story "Memoirs of an Anti-Semite," in The New Yorker. On this occasion, Elie Wiesel, who was born in Bukovina's neighboring Maramure?, wrote:

"Rezzori addresses the major problems of our time, and his voice echoes with the disturbing and wonderful magic of a true storyteller."

In his Guide for Idiots through the German Society, von Rezzori also used his noted taste for satire. Although he was not unanimously perceived as a major author in the German-speaking area, his posthumous reception has arguably confirmed him among the most important modern German-language authors.

Published titles

Flamme, die sich verzehrt ("Self-extinguishing Flame", novel, 1940)
Rombachs einsame Jahre, ("Rombach's Lonely Years", novel, 1942)
Rose Manzani (novel, 1944)
Maghrebinische Geschichten ("Tales of Maghrebinia", 1953)
Ödipus siegt bei Stalingrad ("Oedipus at Stalingrad", 1954)
Männerfibel, 1955
Ein Hermelin in Tschernopol. Ein maghrebinischer Roman ("The Hussar", 1958)
Bogdan im Knoblauchwald. Ein maghrebinisches Märchen ("Bogdan in the Garlic Forest. A Maghrebinian Tale", 1962)
Die Toten auf ihre Plätze. Tagebuch des Films Viva Maria ("The Dead on their Places. Journal of the Movie 'Viva Maria'", 1966)
1001 Jahr Maghrebinien. Eine Festschrift (1967)
Der Tod meines Bruders Abel ("The Death of My Brother Abel", novel, 1976)
Greif zur Geige, Frau Vergangenheit (novel, 1978)
Denkwürdigkeiten eines Antisemiten ("The Memoirs of an Anti-Semite", 1979)
Der arbeitslose König. Maghrebinisches Märchen ("The Jobless King. A Maghrebinian Tale", 1981)
A Stranger in Lolitaland. An Essay, first published in English by Vanity Fair
Blumen im Schnee — Portraitstudien zu einer Autobiographie, die ich nie schreiben werde. Auch: Versuch der Erzählweise eines gleicherweise nie geschriebenen Bildungsromans ("The Snows Of Yesteryear", autobiographical essays, 1989)
Über dem Kliff ("Beyond the Cliff", stories, 1991)
Idiotenführer durch die Deutsche Gesellschaft. Hochadel, Adel, Schickeria, Prominenz ("Guide for Idiots through the German Society. Aristocracy, Swells, Notables", 1992)
Begegnungen ("Encounters", 1992)
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 ("On My Own Traces", 1997)
Kain. Das letzte Manuskript (posthumous novel, 2001)

Awards

Theodor-Fontane-Preis (1959)
Premio Scanno (1987)
Premio Boccaccio
Premio Lorenzo Il Magnifico

Search - List of Books by Gregor von Rezzori

Biography more less

Literary Works more less

Published titles

Awards

Filmography more less

Screenwriter

Actor

Further Reading more less

Search - List of Books by Gregor von Rezzori

Biography more less

Literary Works more less

Published titles

Awards

Filmography more less

Screenwriter

Actor

Further Reading more less

Loading...