Hugo Loetscher (22 December 1929 – 18 August 2009) was a Swiss writer and essayist.

Life

Loetscher was born and raised in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. He studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

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

, and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

at the

University of Zürich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

and the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. At Zürich in 1956 he obtained a doctorate with a work called ''Die politische Philosophie in Frankreich nach 1945' (Political Philosophy in France after 1945"). Afterwards, he was

reviewer for the newspaper ''

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...

'' and the magazine ''

Weltwoche ''Die Weltwoche'' (German for "The World Week") is a Swiss weekly magazine based in Zürich. Founded in 1933, it has been privately owned by Roger Köppel since 2006. The magazine's regular columnists include the former president of the Social D ...

''. From 1958 to 1962 he was a member of the editorial department of the monthly cultural magazine '' Du'' and founded the literary supplement ''Das Wort''. From 1964 until 1969 he was

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criti ...

editor and member of the editorial board of the ''Weltwoche''. He next became a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

. In the 1960s, Loetscher worked as a reporter in Latin America with his primary focuses being

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and Brazil. Later, he also traveled through

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. He was writer in residence in 1979/80 at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in Los Angeles where he wrote ''Herbst in der Grossen Orange.'' In 1981/82 he was the first holder of the Swiss Chair at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

. He was guest lecturer at several universities, e.g. in 1988 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 ...

in 1999 at the

Universidade do Porto The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

and 2008 at the

Shanghai International Studies University Shanghai International Studies University (SISU; ) is China's leading university in linguistics, cultural studies, and global and area studies. Established in December 1949, SISU is known for being one of the earliest institutions where China's hi ...

and the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

. Loetscher died aged 79 in Zürich.

Performances

Hugo Loetscher's works were often based on his traveling experiences; he has been called "the most cosmopolitan Swiss writer". His experiences are reflected in reports including ''Zehn Jahre Fidel Castro'' (1969) and narrative works such as ''Wunderwelt'' a Brazilian Fairy Tale, and ''Eine brasilianische Begegnung'' (1979). Loetscher's most famous works are ''Der Immune'' (1975) and ''Die Papiere des Immunen'' (1986), in which he experimented with several literary genres. This variety of genres also reflects itself in other works:

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

s in ''Die Fliege und die Suppe'' (1989),

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

in ''Der Buckel'' (2002),

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

in ''Der Waschküchenschlüssel und andere Helvetica'' (1983),

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

in ''Es war einmal die Welt'' (2004). In 2003, he published ''Lesen statt klettern'', a collection of

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 on Swiss literature, in which he questioned the traditional image of Switzerland as an Alpine nation. His literary estate is archived in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern. Loetscher also had strong interest in

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

, particularly

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

. Besides he made a documentary on politics in Portugal in 1965. He was a close friend of the Swiss painter Varlin ( Willy Guggenheim). Varlin painted Loetscher and in 1969, Loetscher edited the first book about Varlin's life and work. As President of the ''Foundation of Swiss Photography'', Loetscher was co-editor of the first history of Swiss photography ''Photographie in Der Schweiz Von 1840 Bis Heute'' (1974). Loetscher was a member of the Swiss Writers´ Association ( Schweizerischer Schriftstellerverband), serving as its president from 1986 to 1989. He was also a corresponding member of the

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 in Frankfurt. It is seated in Darmstadt, ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

The Dürrenmatt affair

Loetscher was a good friend of the Swiss playwright

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...

. After Dürrenmatt's death, legal action was taken against Loetscher by Dürrenmatt's widow

Charlotte Kerr Charlotte Kerr (29 May 1927 – 28 December 2011) was a German director, film producer, actress, writer and journalist. She first performed on stage in Fritz Kortner’s version of Schiller’s ''Don Carlos'' in 1951. She became well known fo ...

, which was to be later dismissed. The lawsuit's reason: Loetscher wrote a report about Dürrenmatt's abdication in ''Lesen statt klettern'', which Kerr claimed violated her "personal rights". She also criticized details like the folded hands of the laid out corpse or a

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

book on Dürrenmatt's bedside table. The description of the funeral had hurt her dignity. She stated that Loetscher was mistaken; Dürrenmatt had been atheist, he would not have folded his hands. Loetscher explained that there had been a drawing that showed Dürrenmatt with hands folded. Kerr supposedly had asked for it and burnt it. He emphasized that he had been a friend of Dürrenmatt for many years. The judges dismissed the case, exonerating Loetscher.

Awards and honors

* 1964 Charles Veillon prize * 1966

Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis The Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis is a literary award in memory of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. The prize is given annually to up to three recipients by the ''Conrad Ferdinand Meyer-Stiftung'' in Zurich. Laureates *1938 Max Frisch *1939 Franz Fisch ...

* 1972 Literature prize of the city of Zürich * 1985

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

prize of the canton bank of Zurich * 1992 Big

prize of the Swiss Schiller Foundation ( de) * 1994 Cruzeiro do Sul for his merits for

Brazilian culture The culture of Brazil is primarily Western, being derived from Portuguese culture, as well as the cultural and ethnic mixing that occurred between the Indigenous peoples, Portuguese colonizers and Africans. In the late 19th and early 20th centu ...

Works

* ''Abwässer'', Zürich 1963 * ''Die Kranzflechterin'', Zürich 1964 * ''Noah'', Zürich 1967 (''Noah: A Novel of the Boom Times'', translated by Samuel P. Willcocks, Seagull Books 2012, ) * ''Zehn Jahre Fidel Castro'', Zürich 1969 * ''Der Immune'', Darmstadt u. a. 1975 (''Le Déserteur engagé'', translated into French by Monique Thiollet,

Éditions Belfond Editis is a French corporate group, group of publishing companies, subsidiary of French group Vivendi. It is the second-largest Media of France, French publishing group, after Hachette Livre. History Editis was created in January 2004 by the reg ...

, Paris, 1989 ; also 2006 in the

Book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

Schweizer Bibliothek Schweizer Bibliothek ("Swiss Library") is a twenty-volume compilation of Swiss books, published in 2005/2006. The wide assortment of writers from all around the country is intended to represent 20th century Swiss literature by showcasing twenty of ...

'') * ''Die Entdeckung der Schweiz und anderes'', Zürich 1976 * ''Kulinaritäten'', Bern 1976 (corresponding with Alice Vollenweider) * ''Wunderwelt'', Darmstadt u. a. 1979 * ''Herbst in der Grossen Orange'', Zürich 1982 * ''How many languages does man need?'', New York 1982 * ''Der Waschküchenschlüssel und andere Helvetica'', Zürich 1983 * ''Das Hugo-Loetscher-Lesebuch'', Zürich 1984 * ''Die Papiere des Immunen'', Zürich 1986 * ''Vom Erzählen erzählen'', Zürich 1988 * ''Die Fliege und die Suppe und 33 andere Tiere in 33 anderen Situationen'', Zürich 1989 * ''Der predigende Hahn'', Zürich 1992 * ''Saison'', Zürich 1995 * ''Die Augen des Mandarin'', Zürich 1999 * ''Äs tischört und plutschins'', Zürich 2000 * ''Durchs Bild zur Welt gekommen'', Zürich 2001 * ''Der Buckel'', Zürich 2002 * ''Lesen statt klettern'', Zürich 2003 * ''Es war einmal die Welt'', Zürich 2004 * ''War meine Zeit meine Zeit'', Zürich 2009

Publications as a publisher

* Manuel Gasser: ''Welt vor Augen'', Frankfurt am Main 1964 *

António Vieira Pedro António Vieira (; 6 February 160818 July 1697) was an Afro-Portuguese Jesuit priest, diplomat, orator, preacher, philosopher, writer, and member of the Royal Council to the King of Portugal. Biography Vieira was born in Lisbon to ...

: ''Die Predigt des Heiligen Antonius an die Fische'', Zürich 1966 * Varlin: ''Varlin'', Zürich 1969 * ''Zürich – Aspekte eines Kantons'', Zürich 1972 * ''Photographie in der Schweiz von 1840 bis heute'', Teufen 1974; compl. Bern 1992 * Adrien Turel: ''Bilanz eines erfolglosen Lebens'', Frauenfeld 1976 * Hans Falk: ''Circus zum Thema'', Zürich 1981

Translations

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

: ''Von der Poesie des Bauens'', Zürich 1957 *

Ayi Kwei Armah Ayi Kwei Armah (born 28 October 1939) is a Ghanaian writer best known for his novels including ''The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born'' (1968), '' Two Thousand Seasons'' (1973) and '' The Healers'' (1978). He is also an essayist, as well as having ...

: ''Die Schönen sind noch nicht geboren'', Olten u. a. 1971 * Walter Sorell: ''Europas kleiner Riese'', München 1972 (with Franz Z. Küttel) * José Guadelupe Posada: ''Posada'', Zürich 1979

Literature

* Romey Sabalius: ''Die Romane Hugo Loetschers im Spannungsfeld von Fremde und Vertrautheit'', New York u. a.: Lang 1995. (= Studies in modern German literature; 72) * Jeroen Dewulf: ''Hugo Loetscher und die «portugiesischsprachige Welt»'', Bern u. a.: Lang 1999. (= Europäische Hochschulschriften; Reihe 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur; 1734) * Jeroen Dewulf: ''In alle Richtungen gehen. Reden und Aufsätze über Hugo Loetscher'', Zürich: Diogenes 2005. * Jeroen Dewulf: ''Brasilien mit Brüchen. Schweizer unter dem Kreuz des Südens'', Zürich: NZZ Verlag 2007.

References

External links

Literary estate of Hugo Loetscher
in the archive database HelveticArchives of the

Swiss National Library The Swiss National Library (german: Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek, french: Bibliothèque nationale suisse, it, Biblioteca nazionale svizzera, rm, Biblioteca naziunala svizra) is the national library of Switzerland. Part of the Federal Office ...

Publications by and about Hugo Loetscher
in the catalogue Helveticat of the

* * * https://web.archive.org/web/20110708032045/http://crazybiswadip.blogspot.com/2007/10/power-balance-for-peace.html Interviewer Biswadip Mitra * http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5z03g0t4 Hugo Loetscher. In Memoriam {{DEFAULTSORT:Loetscher, Hugo 1929 births 2009 deaths Swiss dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Swiss male novelists Writers from Zürich 20th-century Swiss novelists 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century male writers