Michael Rutschky (25 May 1943 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

– 18 March 2018 in Berlin) was a German

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Life

Michael Rutschky grew up in

Spangenberg Spangenberg is a small town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographic centrepoint o ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

. From 1963 to 1971, he studied

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Literary Science Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and Philosophy at the

Universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

(amongst others under

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of criti ...

and Jürgen Habermas),

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and

FU Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

. From 1969 to 1978, he worked as a

social research Social research is a research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. * Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable ...

er at the Freie Universität Berlin; he would attain a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

there as a Doctor of Philosophy. From 1979 to 1984, he lived in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. There he belonged to the

Editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, o ...

of the periodical ''

Merkur Merkur (, '' Mercury'') is a defunct automobile brand that was marketed by the Lincoln- Mercury division of Ford Motor Company from 1985 to 1989. Drawing its name from the German word for Mercury, Merkur was targeted at buyers of European execut ...

'' and the editor of the '' TransAtlantik'' in 1980/81. Since 1985, he again works and lives in Berlin. From 1985 to 1997, he was

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

to the periodical '' Der Alltag''. Michael Rutschky wrote

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s in whose

Narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...

passages and sociological interpretation of the everyday present enter into an original mixture and a comical work not seldom produced. Michael Rutschky was a member of the PEN Zentrums Deutschland. He received the 1997 Heinrich Mann Prize; in 1999 he held the poetic dozent of the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. He is Scholar at the Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia in Bamberg. He was married to the educationalist and publisher Katharina Rutschky until her death in January 2010.

Works

*''Schüler im Literaturunterricht'' (Students in the Literary Teaching), Cologne 1975 (together with Hartmut Eggert and Hans Christoph Berg) *''Studien zur psychoanalytischen Interpretation von Literatur'' (Studies of the Psychoanalytical Interpretation of Literature), Berlin 1978 *''Erfahrungshunger'' (Experience Hunger), Cologne 1980 *''Lektüre der Seele'' (Lectures of the Soul), Frankfurt am Main

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...

1981 *''Wartezeit'' (Waiting Time), Cologne 1983 *''Zur Ethnographie des Inlands'' (Of the Demographics of the Home Country), Frankfurt am Main 1984 *''Auf Reisen'' (From Trips), Frankfurt am Main 1986 *''Was man zum Leben wissen muß'' (What one must know to live), Zürich 1987 *''Thomas – mach ein Bild von uns!'' (Thomas - make a Picture of us!), München

1988 (together with Thomas Karsten and Peter Brasch) *''Reise durch das Ungeschick und andere Meisterstücke'' (Trips through the Awkward and other Mater Pieces), Zürich 1990 *''Mit Dr. Siebert in Amerika'' (With Dr. Siebert in America), Zürich

1991 *''Traumnachrichten'' (Dream News), Hersbruck 1991 *''Unterwegs im Beitrittsgebiet'' (Away in the Member Area), Göttingen 1994 *''Die Meinungsfreude'' (The Opinion's Friends), Göttingen 1997 *''Der verborgene Brecht'' (The Hidden Break), Zürich

1997 (together with Juergen Teller) *''Lebensromane'' (Life Novels), Göttingen 1998 *''Berlin'', Berlin 2001 *Wie wir Amerikaner wurden'' (How we became American), München 2004

Publisher

*''Errungenschaften'' (Achievements), Frankfurt am Main 1982 *''Ein Jahresbericht'' (The Yearly Report), Frankfurt am Main 1983 *''Tag für Tag'' (Day for Day), Frankfurt am Main 1984 *''Die andere Chronik'' (The Other Chronicle) 1987, Cologne 1987

References

External links

Literature by and on Michael Rutschky
in the Catalog of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

Short Biography
from the Pages of taz
Biography with a Photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutschky, Michael 1943 births 2018 deaths Writers from Berlin Heinrich Mann Prize winners German male writers