Claudio Magris (; born 10 April 1939) is an Italian scholar, translator and writer. He was a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Friuli-Venezia Giulia Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...

from 1994 to 1996.

Life

Magris graduated from the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, where he studied

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

, and has been a professor of modern German literature at the University of Trieste since 1978. He is an

essayist 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 (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

for the Italian newspaper ''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

'' and for other European journals and newspapers. His numerous studies have helped to promote an awareness in Italy of Central European culture and of the literature of the Habsburg myth, a concept which he coined in 1963. Magris is a member of several European academies and served as a senator in the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic (), or simply the Senate ( ), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform iden ...

from 1994 to 1996. His first book on the Habsburg myth in modern Austrian literature rediscovered central European literature. His journalistic writings have been collected in ''Dietro le parole'' ("Behind Words", 1978) and ''Itaca e oltre'' ("Ithaca and Beyond", 1982). He has written essays on E.T.A. Hoffmann,

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

Italo Svevo Aron Hector Schmitz (19 December 186113 September 1928), better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo (), was an Italian and Austro-Hungarian writer, businessman, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. A close friend of Irish novelist and ...

Robert Musil Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, ''The Man Without Qualities'' (), is generally considered to be one of the most important and influential modernist novels. Family M ...

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

and

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

. His novels and theatre productions, many translated into several languages, include ''Illazioni su una sciabola'' (1984), ''Danubio'' (1986), ''Stadelmann'' (1988), ''Un altro mare'' (1991), and ''Microcosmi'' (1997). His breakthrough was ''Danubio'' (1986), which is a

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

. In this book (said by the author to be a "drowned novel"), Magris tracks the course of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

from its sources to the sea. The whole trip evolves into a colourful, rich canvas of the multicultural

European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Eu ...

Decorations and awards

* 1980:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National C ...

* 1987: Bagutta Prize for ''Danubio'' * 1990: French Award for Best Foreign Book (essays) for ''Danubio'' * 1992: Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation * 1994: Gold Medal of Honour of the City of Vienna * 1997: Strega Prize for ''Microcosmi'' * 2000: Würth Prize for European Literature * 2001: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic * 2001:

Erasmus Prize The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world. I ...

* 2001: Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding (Grand Prize) * 2001: Member of the Academy of Arts Berlin * 2004: Prince of Asturias Award for Literature * 2006: Austrian State Prize for European Literature * 2008: Walter Hallstein Prize * 2009: Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels * 2009: Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon * 2009: Prix Jean Monnet European Literature * 2009: Vilenica Prize – Slovenian international literature prize for Central European authors * 2009: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain * 2012:

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

* 2012: Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 2014: FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages * 2015:

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

* 2015: Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 2016:

Franz Kafka Prize The Franz Kafka Prize is an international literary award presented in honour of Franz Kafka, the Jewish, Bohemian, German-language novelist. The prize was first awarded in 2001 and is co-sponsored by the Franz Kafka Society and the city of Prag ...

* 2019: Thomas Mann Prize

Honorary doctorates

* 1991:

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

* 1993:

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

* 1995: University of Klagenfurt * 1999:

University of Szeged The University of Szeged () is a Public university, public research university in Szeged, Hungary. Established as the Jesuit Academy of Kolozsvár in present-day Cluj-Napoca in 1581, the institution was re-established as a university in 1872 by ...

* 2011:

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) * 2011:

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

* 2014:

University of Murcia The University of Murcia () is the primary institute of higher education in Murcia, Spain. With a student population of approximately 38,000, it is the largest university in the Region of Murcia. Founded in 1272 AD, the University of Murcia is ...

* 2014: West University of Timisoara * 2017:

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

* 2018:

University of Regensburg The University of Regensburg () is a public research university located in the city of Regensburg, Germany. The university was founded on 18 July 1962 by the Landtag of Bavaria as the fourth full-fledged university in Bavaria. Following groundbr ...

Memberships

* 2001: Academy of the Arts, Berlin, Section Literatur *

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung (in English German Academy for Language and Literature) was founded on 28 August 1949, on the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in the Paulskirche, Frankfurt, Paulskirche in Frankfurt. I ...

, Darmstadt * Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich *

Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur The Academy of Sciences and Literature () is a scientific academy in Mainz, Germany. It was established in 1949 on an initiative of Alfred Döblin. The academy's goal is to support science and literature, and in doing so to help preserve and pr ...

, Mainz *

Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

, Wien * Accademia delle scienze di Turino * Akademie der Wissenschaften, Göttingen

Works

*''Illazioni su una sciabola'' (1984; translated as ''Inferences from a Sabre'', ), *'' Danubio'' (1986; translated as ''Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea'', ), *''Stadelmann'' (1988), *''Un altro mare'' (1991; translated as ''A Different Sea'', ) *''Microcosmi'' (1997; translated as ''Microcosms'', ). *''Alla cieca'' (2006; translated as ''Blindly'', ). *''Non luogo a procedere'' (2015; translated as ''Blameless'', ). *''Tiempo curvo a Krems'' (2019).

References

External links

(on Swans Commentary)
''Nicoletta Pireddu, The Works of Claudio Magris. Temporary Homes, Mobile Identities, European Borders''
(Palgrave, 2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Magris, Claudio 1939 births Living people Writers from Trieste Italian essayists Italian male writers Italian columnists Italian translators Germanists Strega Prize winners Order of Arts and Letters of Spain recipients Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Recipients of the Austrian State Prize Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) University of Turin alumni Academic staff of the University of Trieste Members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy) Italian male essayists German–Italian translators