Patrick Süskind (; born 26 March 1949) is a German writer and screenwriter, known best for his novel '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'', first published in 1985.

Early life

Süskind was born in Ambach,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. His father was writer and journalist

Wilhelm Emanuel Süskind Wilhelm Emanuel Süskind (10 June 1901, Weilheim - 17 April 1970, Tutzing) was a German writer, journalist and translator. Süskind was editorial journalist for politics with Süddeutsche Zeitung. Along with his own works he translated books into ...

, who worked for the newspaper ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...

'' and is famous as the co-author of the well-known publication ''Aus dem Wörterbuch des Unmenschen'' (''From the Dictionary of an Inhuman''), a critical collection of essays concerning the language of the Nazi era. Patrick Süskind went to school in Holzhausen, a small Bavarian village. His mother worked as a sports trainer; his older brother Martin E. Süskind is also a journalist. Süskind has many relatives from the aristocracy in Württemberg, making him one of the descendants of the exegete

Johann Albrecht Bengel Johann Albrecht Bengel (24 June 1687 – 2 November 1752), also known as ''Bengelius'', was a Lutheran pietist clergyman and Greek-language scholar known for his edition of the Greek New Testament and his commentaries on it. Life and career Be ...

and of the reformer

Johannes Brenz Johann (Johannes) Brenz (24 June 1499 – 11 September 1570) was a German Lutheran theologian and the Protestant Reformer of the Duchy of Württemberg. Early advocacy of the Reformation Brenz was born in the then Imperial City of Weil der S ...

. After his qualification testing for university and his mandatory

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

, he studied medieval and modern history at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

and in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

from 1968–1974, but never graduated. Funded by his parents, he relocated to Paris, where he wrote "mainly short, unpublished fiction and longer screenplays which were not made into films".Francke, Eckhart. "Patrick Süskind". ''Kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur'', 42. NLG, 1-8

Work

During 1981, he had his first major success with the play '' Der Kontrabaß'' (''The Double Bass''), which was conceived originally as a radio play. During the theatrical season of 1984–85, the play was performed more than 500 times. The only role is that of a tragi-comical orchestra musician. During the 1980s, Süskind was also successful as a screenwriter for the television productions '' Monaco Franze'' (1983) and ''

Kir Royal The Kir royal is a French cocktail, a variation on the Kir. It consists of crème de cassis topped with champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the ...

'' (1987), among others. For his screenplay of ', directed by

Helmut Dietl Helmut Dietl (; 22 June 1944 – 30 March 2015) was a German film director and author from Bad Wiessee. Work After leaving grammar school in 1958, Dietl completed a degree in theatre studies and history of art. He then became head of photogra ...

, he won the Screenplay Prize of the German Department for Culture during 1996. He rejected other awards, like the FAZ-Literaturpreis, the

Toucan Prize The Toucan Prize (german: Tukan-Preis) is a literary prize given by the city of Munich to the best new publication by a Munich author. It has been awarded since 1965 and is endowed with 6,000 Euros. Recipients *1965 Paul Mommertz, Georg Schwar ...

, and the Gutenbergpreis. His best-known work is the internationally acclaimed bestseller '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'' (1985). ''Perfume'' was on the bestselling list of the German weekly news magazine ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' for nine years. It was

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

into a film directed by

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films ''Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The St ...

. Süskind is also the author of a novella, '' The Pigeon'' (1988), ''

The Story of Mr Sommer ''The Story of Mr Sommer'' (''Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer'') is a novella in German by Patrick Süskind, published in 1991, dealing with memories of childhood in a village in Germany. The book was illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé. It was tra ...

'' (1991, illustrated by French cartoonist Sempe), ''Three Stories and a Reflection'' (1996), and a collection of essays, '' On Love and Death'' (2006).

Personal life

Süskind lives as a

recluse A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, in Seeheim (on

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm, or ''Würmsee'' , until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Ba ...

), and in France at

Montolieu Montolieu (; oc, Montoliu) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Sometimes referred to as " Village of Books", Montolieu contains fifteen bookshops, mostly specializing in second-hand and antiquarian books. Many artists al ...

. The public knows little about him; he has withdrawn from literary society and does not grant interviews or allow himself to be photographed.

Selected works

* '' Der Kontrabaß'' (''The Double Bass'') (play, 1981) * ''Das Parfum'' ('' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'') (novel, 1985) * ''Die Taube'' ('' The Pigeon'') (novella, 1988) * ''Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer'' (''

'') (novella, 1991) * ''Drei Geschichten und eine Betrachtung'' (''Three Stories and a Reflection'') (stories, 1996) ontents: ''Depth Wish'', ''A Battle'', ''Maître Mussard's Bequest'', ''Amnesia in Litteris''.* ''Über Liebe und Tod'' ('' On Love and Death'') (essay, 2006)

References

External links

The Literary Encyclopedia page for Patrick Süskind
* Smee, Jess

''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...