Siegfried Trebitsch (1868–1956) was an Austrian playwright, translator, novelist and poet. Though prolific as a writer in various genres, he was best known for his German translations, especially of the works of the Irish playwright

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, with whom he kept up a long and detailed correspondence. He is also known for translations of French writers, especially

Georges Courteline Georges Courteline born Georges Victor Marcel Moinaux (25 June 1858 – 25 June 1929) was a French dramatist and novelist, a satirist notable for his sharp wit and cynical humor. Biography His family moved from Tours in Indre-et-Loire to Pari ...

Life

Trebitsch was born on 22 December 1868, into a wealthy secular Jewish family, who "taught him nothing of Judaism of Christianity". His brother

Arthur Trebitsch Arthur Trebitsch (1880–1927) was an Austrian writer and racial theorist, known for being an antisemite of Jewish origin. He offered his services to help the fledgling Nazis to write their antisemitic literature, and was an influence on the early ...

, despite his Jewish origin, became a noted Antisemite and early supporter of the Nazis. Siegfried identified himself as a Lutheran when he registered for military service.Weintraub, Stanley, ''Shaw's People'', Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996, pp.204ff. He entered the silk trade business of his stepfather Leopold, where he remained until 1903 when he took a year out for personal study and for travels across Europe and North Africa. While in England he personally sought out Bernard Shaw, offering to translate his works and help build the playwright's reputation in Europe. This initiated a lengthy correspondence with Shaw that lasted until the Irish writer's death, and has since been published. Trebitsch became the sole German translator of Shaw during his lifetime. Three of Shaw's plays had their world premieres in Trebitsch's German translations. ''

Pygmalion Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to: Mythology * Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue Stage * ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...

'' and ''

The Millionairess ''The Millionairess'' is a 1960 British romantic comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith, and starring Sophia Loren and Peter Sellers. Set in London, it is a loose adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1936 play of the same name. Plot By the t ...

'' were both first performed in Vienna. His last full-length play ''

Buoyant Billions ''Buoyant Billions'' (1948) is a play by George Bernard Shaw. Written at the age of 92, it was his last full-length play. Subtitled "a comedy of no manners", the play is about a brash young man courting the daughter of an elderly billionaire, who ...

'' was first performed Zürich, to which Trebitsch had moved during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1923 Shaw rewarded Trebitsch for his efforts by translating and adapting his play ''Frau Gitta's Sühne'' into English, as ''

Jitta's Atonement ''Jitta's Atonement'' (1923) is an adaptation by George Bernard Shaw of the play ''Frau Gitta's Sühne'' by Siegfried Trebitsch. It is about a woman who has to atone to her husband for having an affair with his best friend. The atonement of both J ...

''. Trebitsch also cultivated links with French writers. He took up his residence in Vienna, where he built the prestigious "Villa Trebitsch" designed by Ernst Gotthilf. He married in 1907 to the Hungarian Princess Antoinette Engalitscheff, the widow of a Russian Grand Duke who had been killed in 1904 fighting the Japanese. In the same year he was given honorary citizenship of the Municipality Wigstadtl in Austrian Silesia Kronlande. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

this became part of Czechoslovakia, so in 1920 he acquired Czech citizenship. Trebitsch was a close friend of music critic

Julius Korngold Julius Leopold Korngold (24 December 1860 – 25 September 1945) was an Austrian music critic. He was the leading critic in early twentieth century Vienna, serving as chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1904 to 1934. His son wa ...

, father of

Erich Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...

. He once suggested to him that one of his translations, a play called ''Die stille Stadt'' (The Silent City) would make a good opera. The play was adapted by Julius and his son Erich, who composed the music. Under the title ''

Die tote Stadt ' (German for ''The Dead City''), Op. 12, is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold. It is based on the 1892 novel '' Bruges-la-Mo ...

'' it was a major success.Carroll, Brendan; G.Pauly, Reinhard G., ''The Last Prodigy: A Biography of Erich Wolfgang Korngold'', Amadeus Press, Portland, 1997, p.121-3. Trebitsch's relationship with his brother Arthur had become increasingly strained in the years before the First World War. Arthur was unable to replicate his brother's success as a writer, and was increasingly obsessed with the idea that there were Jewish conspiracies against him.Brigitte Hamann, Hitler's Vienna: A Portrait of the Tyrant as a Young Man, Tauris Parke, 2010, pp.230-33 In 1912, he unsuccessfully tried to sue Siegfried and the critic Ferdinand Gregori, who had written a bad review of his short stories. Siegfried had agreed with Gregori, describing Arthur's work as "amateurish" and suggesting that he suffered from "megolamania and paranoia". The trial resulted in Arthur's public humiliation as the press ridiculed him. Trebitsch's own original works of this period are comparable to those of

Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and Poetry, poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''Th ...

, who dominated the Viennese cultural life in the 1930s. In his novels and short stories, he characterized contemporary Austrian society.

Escape from the Nazis

He continued to live in Vienna until the 1938

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

, when Austria was absorbed into Nazi Germany. Despite being aware that his Jewish ethnicity would now be a problem for him, according to Blanche Patch, who knew him, he and his wife did not at first react: Trebitsch fled to Paris, where he was awarded an honorary French citizenship in 1939 in recognition of his promotion of French culture in Germany. After the invasion of France in 1940, he moved to Zürich. While there he wrote to Shaw asking him for financial support. He also attempted to raise funds by unsuccessfully claiming royalties for ''

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat''

he courageous soldier He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

or ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus (composer), Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man' ...

'', a German operetta based on ''

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Aven ...

''. Even though he was not the translator, he claimed that he had the sole rights to German versions of Shaw. He applied for an immigration visa to the United States in June 1941, as a precaution, but with Allied victory this was unnecessary. He remained in Zurich for the rest of his life.

Post war

After the war, Trebitsch's house in Vienna was restored to him, but he had no wish to return to Austria. He sold it to the Czechoslovakian embassy. He visited Shaw after the war, but when he planned a second visit in 1948, the irritable Shaw wrote "do not come", later writing that European ideas of intimacy were considered "sentimental nonsense" in England. Trebitsch was responsible for the translation and first production of Shaw's last full-length play, ''

'' which was first performed in German in Trebitsch's new home, Zürich, under the title ''Zu viel Geld''. In 1951 Trebitsch published an autobiography, ''Chronik eines Lebens'' (''Chronicle of a Life''), which was published in English, translated by Eithne Wilkins and Ernst Kaiser, two years later. A few years after Shaw's death in 1950, Trebitsch arranged to sell his collection of letters from the playwright. In 1956, after the sale had been arranged, he went to collect the letters. In the words of

Samuel A. Weiss Samuel Arthur Weiss (April 15, 1902 – February 1, 1977) was an American attorney, professional football player, and Democratic politician. He represented parts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area in the Pennsylvania House ...

, "Trebitsch went to his bank, retrieved the heavy bundle of correspondence, and suffered a heart attack. He was in his eighty-eighth year. On June 3, Siegfried Trebitsch—felled by the hand of his friend—died."

Major works

* ''Gedichte'', 1889 * ''Sawitri'', 1890 (after

Angelo De Gubernatis Count Angelo De Gubernatis (1840–26 February 1913), Italian man of letters, was born in Turin and educated there and at Berlin, where he studied philology. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fourteen times. Life In 1862 he wa ...

) * ''Genesung'', 1902 * ''Weltuntergang'', 1903 * ''Das verkaufte Lächeln'', 1905 * ''Das Haus am Abhang'', 1906 * ''Ein letzter Wille'', 1907 * ''Tagwandler'', 1909 * ''Des Feldherrn erster Traum'', 1910 * ''Ein Muttersohn'', 1911 * ''Wellen und Wege'', 1913 * ''Gefährliche Jahre'', 1913 * ''Tod und die Liebe'', 1914 * ''Spätes Licht'', 1918 * ''Die Frau ohne Dienstag'', 1919, filmed in 1920 by Eberhard FroweinDie Frau ohne Dienstag
/ref> * ''Frau Gittas Sühne'', 1920 * ''Die Last des Blutes'', 1921 * ''Der Geliebte'', 1922 * ''Renate Aldringen'', 1929 * ''Mord im Nebel'', 1931 * ''Die Heimkehr des Diomedes'', 1941 * ''Chronik eines Lebens'' (Autobiography), 1951

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trebitsch, Siegfried 1868 births 1956 deaths 19th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Irish male dramatists and playwrights Austrian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Austrian novelists 20th-century Austrian novelists Austrian male novelists Jewish novelists George Bernard Shaw Translators to German Austrian translators French–German translators English–German translators 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian male writers 19th-century Austrian male writers