Hermann Broch (1886–1951)
Author of The Death of Virgil
About the Author
Hermann Broch was a novelist, playwright, mathematician, and engineer. He was born in Vienna in 1886; he came to the United States in 1938. The Sleepwalkers (1932) Broch's prose trilogy describes three stages in the disintegration of modern European society. The Death of Virgil (1945), whom Broch show more considered a prototype of the modern individual, depicts the last eighteen hours of the life of Virgil. Broch's vision of the immanence of death will probably be regarded as his most original contribution to human experience. Broch was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (1941-42), a membership in the American Institute of Arts and Letters (1942), and a Rockefeller Fellowship for Philosophical and Psychological Research at Princeton (1942-44). Broch died in 1951. (Bowker Author Biography) Hermann Broch was a novelist and playwright. He was born in Vienna on November 1, 1886. Broch studied physics, mathematics, and philosophy at the University of Vienna. Broch's first major work was the trilogy, The Sleepwalkers, which used historical events in the Europe of the late 19th and early 20th centuries to illustrate the decline of European society. His book The Seducer, caused Adolf Hitler to send Broch to a Nazi prison for five months. An international group of artists that included James Joyce arranged for Broch to escape to the United States. Broch's last novel was The Death of Virgil. After its release in 1945, Broch devoted himself to works on political theory and to helping European refugees. Broch died on May 30, 1951. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo © ÖNB/Wien
Series
Works by Hermann Broch
Wandeling naar den vreemde 6 copies
L'espiazione 5 copies
"Sich an den Tod heranpürschen ..." : Hermann Broch und Egon Vietta im Briefwechsel 1933-1951 (2012) 2 copies
Azione e conoscenza 2 copies
Hermann Broch: der DIchter 2 copies
Lettres, 1929-1951 2 copies
Lettres : 19291951 1 copy
Søvngængerne 1 copy
POESÍA E INVESTIGACIÓN 1 copy
Il sortilegio 1 copy
Kusiciel 1 copy
Niewinni 1 copy
A morte de Vírgílio - vol. I 1 copy
Kommentierte Werkausgabe. Band 13.3: Briefe, 1945-1951: Dokumente und Kommentare zu Leben und Werk (1995) 1 copy
Zur Universitätsreform 1 copy
Gesammelte Werke 1 copy
Misli o politici 1 copy
Kommentierte Werkausgabe 1 copy
Gedanken zur Politik 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Broch, Hermann
- Birthdate
- 1886-11-01
- Date of death
- 1951-05-30
- Burial location
- Killingworth, Connecticut in cemetery on Roast Meat Hill Road
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Austria
- Birthplace
- Vienna, Austria
- Place of death
- New Haven, Connecticut, USA
- Cause of death
- heart attack
- Places of residence
- Princeton, New Jersey, USA
New Haven, Connecticut, USA - Education
- University of Vienna
- Occupations
- textile manufacturer
writer - Organizations
- Yale University
- Awards and honors
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (Literature, 1942)
Members
Reviews
Death of Virgil: A Novel by Hermann Broch
"One human life does not suffice. It suffices for nothing. Oh, memory, oh homecoming."
This is my second reading of this masterpiece. I continue to be amazed at how these novels transition from romantic nostalgia to deep philosophical modernism. With Broch, one reaches the boundary of what can be done with literary fiction.
With so little of Broch's non-literary work available in English, this is a curious choice for translation. It illuminates the deteriorating relationship with his son and the financial difficulties that arose when the Broch family textile business declined, but other than that there's not much insight into the mind that produced Die Schlafwandler, Der Versucher, and Der Tod des Vergil.
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Statistics
- Works
- 110
- Also by
- 8
- Members
- 3,434
- Popularity
- #7,406
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 34
- ISBNs
- 266
- Languages
- 21
- Favorited
- 24
- Touchstones
- 148