Friderike Maria Zweig (née Burger; 4 December 1882 – 18 January 1971) was an Austrian writer.

Early life and education

Burger was born into a

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Music of Vienna, musical styles in the city * Viennese Waltz, genre of ballroom dance * V ...

Jewish family, the daughter of Emanuel and Theresia Burger. She was one of the first women to have been permitted to attend the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

, where she studied literature and French. Her first marriage was to Felix Edler von Winternitz, a civil servant. Together they had two daughters, Alexia Elisabeth, born in 1907, and Susana Benedictine, born in 1909. Her second marriage was to fellow Austrian writer

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

Marriage to Zweig

She first met Stefan Zweig in 1908, and four years later they started an affair when she was 30 and still married to her first husband.Epstein, Helen, "The Jewish Writer's Dream Wife: Why I published Friderike Burger's memoir of her service as femme de l'artiste to Stefan Zweig,"
''Tablet'', 24 July 2012. They did not marry for a long time, partially due to divorce being impossible in the Catholic

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, and married only in 1920 once the

Austrian Republic Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ci ...

was established. After the wedding they moved into a small house in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

found by Friderike on an earlier visit. During the years of their life in Salzburg, Friderike took on the role of a hostess for many of Zweig's literary friends. Equally, she played a big part in supporting Zweig's artistic endeavours by being the housekeeper and providing help on translations and editing, as well as acting as a support during his bouts of depression and anxiety. Friderike and Zweig divorced in 1939 and Frederike emigrated to the US in 1940. Frederike died in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, in 1971 where she had lived for many years.

Work

At first, Friderike tried working as a literary journalist, but this did not earn enough money and instead, she started teaching French and history. During her marriage to Zweig she often helped him with research and translation as well as reading books he was sent, making excerpts from them and writing letters of acknowledgement in his name. Friderike was also a founder of the Stefan Zweig Society. In 1946 Friderike wrote a memoir, ''Married to Stefan Zweig'', recounting the years she spent being married to Zweig. Her correspondence with Zweig from 1912 to 1942 has been translated and published in English.''Stefan and Friderike Zweig: Their Correspondence, 1912-1942'', translated and edited by Henry G. Alsberg with the assistance of Erna MacArthur 'sic'' New York: Hastings House, 1954. As a founder of the American-European Friendship Association, Friderike was also known for her work promoting Austrian-American cultural ties, for which she was acknowledged by the Austrian government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zweig, Friderike Maria 1882 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Austrian writers 20th-century Austrian women writers Austrian Jews Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Jewish women writers University of Vienna alumni Edlers of Austria