Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of a German writer notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Born into a Jewish family and married to a Hungarian Communist, Seghers escaped Nazi-controlled territory through wartime France. She was granted a visa and gained ship's passage to Mexico, where she lived in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
(1941–47).
She returned to Europe after the war, living in
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
(1947–50), which was occupied by Allied forces. She eventually settled in the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**G ...
, where she worked on cultural and peace issues. She received numerous awards and in 1967 was nominated for the Nobel Prize by the GDR. She died and was buried in Berlin in 1983.
She is believed to have based her pseudonym, Anna Seghers, on the surname of the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
painter and printmaker
Hercules Pieterszoon Seghers or Segers (c. 1589 – c. 1638).
Life
Seghers was born Anna Reiling in
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
in 1900 into a Jewish family. She was called "Netty". Her father, Isidor Reiling, was a dealer in antiques and cultural artefacts.
[ In Cologne and Heidelberg she studied history, the history of art, and Chinese.
In 1925 she married László Radványi, also known as Johann Lorenz Schmidt, a Hungarian Communist and academic, thereby acquiring Hungarian citizenship.]
She joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1928, at a time when the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
was moribund and soon to be replaced. Her 1932 novel, ''Die Gefährten'' was a prophetic warning of the dangers of Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
, for which she was arrested by the Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
. In 1932, she formally left the Jewish community.
By 1934 she had emigrated, via Zürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
, to Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.[ After German troops invaded the ]French Third Republic
The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 19 ...
in 1940, she fled to Marseilles, seeking to leave Europe.
One year later, she was granted an entry visa to Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and ship's passage. Settling in Mexico City, she founded the anti-fascist 'Heinrich-Heine-Klub', named after the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. She also founded ''Freies Deutschland'' (''Free Germany''), an academic journal.
While still in Paris, in 1939, she had written '' The Seventh Cross''. The novel is set in 1936 and describes the escape of seven prisoners from a concentration camp. It was published in English in the United States in 1942 and quickly adapted for an American movie of the same name. ''The Seventh Cross'' was one of the very few depictions of Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...
, in either literature or the cinema, during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. In 1947 Seghers was awarded the Georg Büchner-Prize for this novel.
Seghers's best-known short story, the title of her collection in ''The Outing of the Dead Girls'' (1946), was written in Mexico. It was partially autobiographical, drawn from her reminiscence and reimagining of a pre-World War I class excursion on the Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
river. She explores the actions of the protagonist's classmates in light of their decisions and ultimate fates during both world wars. In describing them, the German countryside, and her hometown Mainz, which was soon destroyed in the second war, Seghers expresses lost innocence and ponders the senseless injustices of war. She shows there is no escape from such loss, whether or not one sympathized with the NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
. Other notable Seghers novels include ''Sagen von Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
'' (1938) and ''The Ship of the Argonauts'' (1953), both based on myths.
In 1947, Seghers returned to Germany, settling in West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, an enclave within the Soviet-controlled East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. She joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
in the zone occupied by the Soviets. That year she was also awarded the Georg Büchner Prize for her novel ''Transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
'', written in German, and published in English in 1944.
In 1950, she moved to East Berlin, where she co-founded the Academy of the Arts of the GDR, and became a member of the World Peace Council.
Her radio play '' The Trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen, 1431'' was adapted to the stage by Bertolt Brecht. It was written in collaboration with Benno Besson and premiered at the Berliner Ensemble
The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...
in November 1952, in a production directed by Besson (his first important production with the Ensemble), with Käthe Reichel
Käthe or Kathe is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Käthe Dorsch (1890–1957), German actress
*Käthe Gold (1907–1997), Austrian actress
*Käthe Grasegger, later Deuschl (1917–2001), German alpine skier
* Kathe Green (bo ...
as Joan.
Honors and awards
In 1951, Seghers received the first National Prize of the GDR and the Stalin Peace Prize
The International Lenin Peace Prize (russian: международная Ленинская премия мира, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a pane ...
. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Jena
The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
The un ...
in 1959. Seghers was nominated for the 1967 Nobel Prize in Literature by the German Academy of Arts. In 1981, she was made an honorary citizen of her native town Mainz. She died in Berlin on 1 June 1983 and is buried there.
Representation in other media
*'' The Seventh Cross'' (1944) was adapted in English from her 1942 novel of the same name and released by MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
, starring Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
.
*Anna Seghers is mentioned in the German ostalgie
In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and '' Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia ...
film, ''Good Bye, Lenin!
''Good Bye Lenin!'' is a 2003 German tragicomedy film, directed by Wolfgang Becker. The cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, and Maria Simon. The story follows a family in East Germany (GDR); the mother (Sass) is dedic ...
'' (2003), directed by Wolfgang Becker.
*Her novel published as ''Transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
'' (1944) in English, set in Marseilles, was adapted for a 2018 film of the same name by German director Christian Petzold. It was set in contemporary Marseilles, again a center of refugees.
Selected works
Anna Seghers's earlier works are typically attributed to the New Objectivity
The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, wh ...
movement. She also made a number of important contributions to Exilliteratur
German ''Exilliteratur'' (, ''exile literature'') is the name for works of German literature written in the German diaspora by refugee authors who fled from Nazi Germany, Nazi Austria, and the occupied territories between 1933 and 1945. These dis ...
, including her novels ''Transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
'' and '' The Seventh Cross''. Her later novels, published in the GDR, are often associated with socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...
. A number of her novels have been adapted into films in Germany.
* 1928 – Aufstand der Fischer von St. Barbara – ''Revolt of the Fishermen of Santa Barbara'' (novel)
* 1933 – Der Kopflohn – ''A Price on His Head'' (novel)
* 1939 – Das siebte Kreuz – '' The Seventh Cross'' (novel)
* 1943 – Der Ausflug der toten Mädchen – "The Excursion of the Dead Girls" (story) (in ''German Women Writers of the Twentieth Century'', Pergamon Press, 1978)
* 1944 - Transit – ''Transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world
* ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...
'' (novel)
* 1946 - Die Saboteure – The Saboteurs (1946)
* 1949 - Die Toten bleiben jung – '' The Dead Stay Young'' (novel)
* 1949 - (short story) "The Wedding from Haiti"
* 1950 - Die Linie.
* 1950 - Der Kesselflicker "The Tinker" (short story)
* 1951 - Crisanta (novella)
* 1951 - Die Kinder.
* 1952 - Der Mann und sein Name (novella)
* 1953 - Der Bienenstock "The Beehive" (short story)
* 1954 - Gedanken zur DDR. In Aufsätze ... 1980, as an excerpt from Andreas Lixl-Purcell (ed.): Erinnerungen deutsch-jüdischer Frauen 1900–1990.
* 1958 - Brot und Salz "Bread and Salt" (short story)
* 1959 - Die Entscheidung "The Decision" (novel)
* 1961 - Das Licht auf dem Galgen "The Light on the Gallows" (short story)
* 1963 - Über Tolstoi. Über Dostojewski.
* 1965 - Die Kraft der Schwachen ''The Power of the Weak'' (novel)
* 1967 - Das wirkliche Blau. Eine Geschichte aus Mexiko. "The Real Blue" (short story)
* 1968 - Das Vertrauen ''Trust'' (novel)
* 1969 - Glauben an Irdisches (essays)
* 1970 - Briefe an Leser.
* 1970 - Über Kunstwerk und Wirklichkeit.
* 1971 - Überfahrt. Eine Liebesgeschichte. "Crossing: A Love Story" (Diálogos Books, 2016)
* 1972 - Sonderbare Begegnungen ''Strange Encounters'' (short stories)
* 1973 - Der proceß der Jeanne d'Arc zu Rouen 1431 '' The Trial of Joan of Arc in Rouen'' (radio play, later adapted by Berthold Brecht)
* 1973 – ''Benito's Blue and Nine Other Stories''
* 1977 - Steinzeit. "Stone Age" Wiederbegegnung "Reencounter" (short stories)
* 1980 - Drei Frauen aus Haiti '' Three Women from Haiti'' (short stories)
* 1990 - Der gerechte Richter ''The Righteous Judge'' (short stories)
See also
* Exilliteratur
German ''Exilliteratur'' (, ''exile literature'') is the name for works of German literature written in the German diaspora by refugee authors who fled from Nazi Germany, Nazi Austria, and the occupied territories between 1933 and 1945. These dis ...
Further reading
*''Anna Seghers: Eine Biographie in Bildern'', edited by Frank Wagner, Ursula Emmerich, Ruth Radvanyi; with an essay by Christa Wolf
Christa Wolf (; née Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist.
Barbara Gard ...
, Berlin: Aufbau, 2000
*Helen Fehervary, ''Anna Seghers: The Mythic Dimension''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001.
*''Anna Seghers: The Challenge of History'', edited by Helen Fehervary, Christiane Zehl Romero, Amy Kepple Strawser. Boston: Brill, 2020.
* ''Writers on the Left in an Age of Extremes: Edgell Rickword, Anna Seghers, Carlo Levo'', by Greta Sykes and David Morgan. London: Socialist History Society, 2021.
References
External links
*
Information on the translated novels
by John Manson
Die-Anna-Seghers-Home-Page
(Potsdam University)
Foreword to a biography on Anna Seghers
University of Michigan Press
"Anna Seghers"
Jewish Women's Archive
Anna Seghers' literary memorial in Berlin
"Radfahrer, dein Verhalten"
a digitized Tarnschriften with excerpts by Anna Seghers at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York
The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seghers, Anna
1900 births
1983 deaths
20th-century German novelists
20th-century German women writers
People from Rhenish Hesse
Writers from Mainz
Writers from Rhineland-Palatinate
Communist Party of Germany members
Cultural Association of the GDR members
Heidelberg University alumni
Socialist Unity Party of Germany members
University of Cologne alumni
Georg Büchner Prize winners
Kleist Prize winners
Stalin Peace Prize recipients
Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver
Communist women writers
Exilliteratur writers
East German writers
German emigrants to France
German emigrants to Mexico
German women novelists
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to France
Jewish novelists
Jewish women writers