Musil was the son of Alfred Edler von Musil (1846, Temesvár - 1924) and his wife Hermine Bergauer (1853, Linz - 1924), who lived together with an unrelated "uncle" Heinrich Reiter (born 1856), the houseguest in the Musil family. The elder Musil was an engineer, firstly family moved to Chomutov til October 1881, and appointed in 1891 to the chair of Mechanical Engineering at the German Technical University in Brno, and awarded a hereditary peerage in the Austro-Hungarian empire shortly before it collapsed. He was a second cousin of Alois Musil, the famous orientalist

Hermine Bergauer was a daughter of a Bohemian German engineer Franz Bergauer (December 3, 1805, Horschowitz - October 11, 1886, Linz)

The young Musil had a short stature, but was strong and skilled at wrestling, and by his early teens already more than his parents could handle. Accordingly they sent him to military boarding school at Eisenstadt (1892-1894) and then Hranice, in that time also known as Mährisch Weißkirchen, (1894-1897). These school experiences are reflected in his first novel, Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless (The Confusions of Young Törless).

After graduating as a cadet, Musil briefly studied at a military college in Vienna during the fall of 1897, but then switched to engineering, joining his father's department at Brno. During his college career he studied engineering by day, but at night read literature and philosophy, and went to the theater and art exhibits. Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Ernst Mach were particular interests of his college years. Musil finished his studies in three years, then in 1902-1903 served as an unpaid assistant to Professor Julius Carl von Bach, in Stuttgart. During this time he began work on Young Törless.

Even then, however, Musil was growing tired with engineering and what he perceived as the limited worldview of engineers, and rather than settle into an engineering career, he launched a new round of doctoral studies (1903-1908) in psychology and philosophy at the University of Berlin under the renowned Professor Carl Stumpf. In 1905, Musil had met Martha Marcovaldi (née Heinemann, January 21, 1874 - November 6, 1949) who was in subsequent years to become his wife. She had already been widowed and remarried, with two children, and was seven years older than Musil. In the midst of these studies his first novel, Young Törless, was published in 1906.

In 1909, Musil completed his doctorate and was offered a position by Professor Alexius Meinong, at the University of Graz, which he turned down to concentrate on literature. Over the next two years, he wrote and published two stories ("The Temptation of Quiet Veronica" and "The Perfecting of a Love") collected in Vereinigungen (Unions) published in 1911. During this same year, Martha's divorce was completed and Musil married her. Until this time, Musil had been supported by his family, but he now found employment first as a librarian in the Technical University of Vienna, and then in an editorial role with the Berlin Literary Journal, during which time he worked on a play entitled Die Schwärmer (The Enthusiasts), which was eventually published in 1921.

When World War I began, Musil joined the Army, stationed first in Tirol, and then away from danger at Austria's Supreme Army Command in Bolzano. In 1916 Musil visited Prague and met Franz Kafka whose work he held in high esteem, as he did the work of Bohemian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. At the "Memorial Service for Rilke in Berlin", Musil remarked that Rilke was "undervalued" for most of his life, and by the time of his death, he had "turned into 'a delicate, well-matured liqueur suitable for grown-up ladies'", but that his work is "too demanding" to be "considered relaxing". After the war's end, and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Musil returned to his literary career in Vienna. He published a collection of short stories, Drei Frauen (Three Women), in 1924, and then in 1930 and 1932 the first two volumes of his masterpiece, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The Man Without Qualities). The novel deals with the moral and intellectual decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the eyes of the book's protagonist Ulrich, an ex-mathematician who has failed to engage with the world around him in a manner that would allow him to possess 'qualities'. It is set in Vienna on the eve of World War I.

The Man Without Qualities brought Musil only mediocre commercial success. Though he was nominated for the Nobel Prize, he felt he did not receive the recognition he deserved. He sometimes expressed annoyance at the success of more famous colleagues like Thomas Mann (or Hermann Broch) who admired his work deeply, and moved by his material poverty, tried to shield him against quotidian worries and encouraged him to further his literary work, even though Musil was initially critical of Mann.

In the early 1920s Musil lived mostly in Berlin. In Vienna Musil was a frequent visitor of Eugenie Schwarzwald's salon (the model of Diotima in The Man Without Qualities). In 1932 The Robert Musil Society was founded in Berlin on the initiative of Thomas Mann. The same year Thomas Mann was asked to name an eminent contemporary novel and he cited exclusively The Man Without Qualities. In 1936 Musil had his first stroke.

The last years of Musil's life were dominated by Nazism and World War II; the Nazis banned his books. He saw early Nazism first-hand while living in Berlin from 1931-1933. In 1938, when Austria became a part of the Third Reich, Musil and his Jewish wife Martha left for exile in Switzerland, where he died on April 15, 1942. Martha wrote Franz Theodor Csokor that taking off his clothes in the bathroom, maybe when doing gymnastics or just making an hefty movement, he had been hit by a stroke and, when she found him a few minutes later, did not look dead at all but so alive with some mockery and astonishment on his face. He was 61. Only eight people were present at his cremation. Martha cast his ashes into the woods of Mont Salève. From the galleys Musil had retrieved from the printer and been reworking until his very last day she published part 3 of The Man Without Qualities in 1943 and died in Rome in 1949 .

After his death Musil's work was almost forgotten in German speaking countries. His writings began to reappear during the early 1950s. The first translation of The Man Without Qualities in English was published by Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins in 1953, 1954 and 1960. An improved translation by Sophie Wilkins and Burton Pike, containing extensive selections from unpublished drafts in the two-volume American edition, appeared in 1995.

1880 November 6 Robert Musil born in Klagenfurt. Father Engineer Alfred Musil, mother Hermine.

1881-1882 The Musils move to Komotau, Bohemia.

1882-1891 The Musils move to Steyr (Oberöstereich). Robert attends the Volksschule and the first grade of the Realgymnasium.

1891-1892 Moves to Brunn. Attends the Realschule.

1892-1894 Attends the Militär-Unterrealschule in Eisenstadt.

1894-1897 Attends the Militär-Oberrealschule in Mährisch-Weisskirchen (the present-day Hranice in the Czech Republic) During his working with artileries Musil discovers his interest in technique.

1897 Attends the Technische Militärakademie in Vienna.

1898-1901 Quits officer training and starts studies at the Technical University of Brunn. His father had been a professor there since 1890. First literary attempt, and first diary notations.

1901 PhD exams.

1901-1920

1901-1902 Musil enlists in the infantry regiment of Freiherr von Hess Nr. 49 in Brunn

1902-1903 Moves to Stuttgart to work at the University. Works on his first novel Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törless

1903-1908 Takes up a philosophy study; his majors are "logic and experimental psychology".

1905 In his diaries he makes the first notes that will eventually lead to Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften.

1906 Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Torless is published. Developed an apparatus to research colour experience in people.

1908 Beiträge zur Beurteilung der Lehren Machs is the title of his doctoral thesis with which he promotes in philosophy, natural science and mathematics. Declines an offer to upgrade his last military rank to an equal civilian rank in favour of writing.

1908-1910 Works in Berlin as an editor for the magazine Pan and on his Vereinigungen and Die Schwärmer.

1911-1914 Librarian at the Technical University of Vienna.

1911 On April 15 Musil marries Martha Marcovaldi. Vereinigungen is published.

1912-1914 Editor for several literary magazines, including Die Neue Rundschau.

1914-1918 During World War I, Musil is officer at the Italian front. Decorated several times.

1916-1917 July-April: publishes the "Soldaten-Zeitung".

1917 On October 22 Alfred Musil ennobled. This nobility is hereditary: thus, Musil will be belong to the nobility to his death (Robert Edler von Musil).

1918 Takes up writing again.

1919-1920 Works for the Information Service of the Austrian foreign department in Vienna.

1920 April-June: lives in Berlin. Meets Ernest Rowohlt who will become, in 1923, his publisher and will remain so.

1920-1922 Adviser for army matters in Vienna.

1921-1931 Works as theater critic, essayist and writer in Vienna. Works on Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften.

1921 The play Die Schwärmer is published.

1923-1929 Is vice-president of Schutzverbandes deutscher Schriftsteller in Östereich. Meets Hugo von Hofmannsthal, who is president of the foundation.

1923 Awarded the Kleist Prize for Die Schwärmer. On December 4 Vinzenz und die Freundin bedeutender Männer is premiered in Berlin.

1924 On January 24 his mother and on October 1 his father die. Awarded the art prize of the city of Vienna. Drei Frauen is published.

1927 Holds a speech on the occasion on the death of Rainer Maria Rilke in Berlin.

1929 April 4 premiere of Die Schwärmer. In spite of protests by Musil, the play is shortened and therefore incomprehensible, according to Musil. In the autumn awarded the Gerhart Hauptmann award.

1930 The first two parts of Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften are published. In spite of critical support, the financial situation is precarious.

1931-1933 Lives and works in Berlin.

1932 Foundation of a Musil-Gesellschaft by Kurt Glaser in Berlin. The foundation aims to provide Musil with the means necessary to continue working on his novel. At the end of the year the third part of Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften is published.

1933 In May Musil leaves Berlin, with his wife Martha. Via Karlsbad and Schloss Pottenstein (Potstejn) they eventually reach Vienna.

1934-1938 After the dismantling of the Berlin Musil-Gesellschaft, a new one is founded in Vienna.

1935 Lecture for the Internationalen Schriftstellerkongress für die Verteidigung der Kultur" in Paris.

1936 Publishes his collection of thoughts, observations and stories Nachlass zu Lebzeiten. Suffers a stroke.

1938 Via Northern Italy Musil and his wife flee to Zürich. Two days after their arrival, on September 4, they are having tea at Thomas Mann's home in Küsnacht.

1939 In July moves to Geneva. Musil continues to work on his novel under the worst financial circumstances, and grows lonelier with exile. Thanks to the Zürich vicar Robert Lejeune, Musil receives some financial support, including from the American couple Henry Hall and Barbara Church. In Germany and Austria Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften and Nachlaß zu Lebzeiten are banned and this ban is extended to all of his works in 1941.

1942 April 15 Musil dies in Geneva.

1943 Martha Musil publishes the unfinished remains of Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften on her own account.

1952-1957 Adolf Frisé publishes the complete works of Robert Musil at Rowohlt.