Ilse Aichinger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ilse Aichinger
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| Born | 1 November 1921 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 11 November 2016 (aged 95) Vienna, Austria |
| Occupation | Writer, poet, novelist, playwright |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Notable works | Die größere Hoffnung; "Spiegelgeschichte" |
| Spouse | Günter Eich (1953–1972) |
| Relatives | Helga (twin) Ruth Rix (niece) |
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Ilse Aichinger (born November 1, 1921 – died November 11, 2016) was an Austrian writer. She was known for writing about her experiences during the time of the Nazis. The Nazis persecuted her because her family had Jewish roots. She wrote many things like poems, short stories, and plays for radio. She also won many important writing awards in Europe.
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Growing Up
Ilse Aichinger was born in 1921 in Vienna, Austria. She had a twin sister named Helga. Their mother, Berta, was a doctor with Jewish heritage. Their father, Ludwig, was a teacher. Even though their mother's family was Jewish, Ilse and Helga were raised Catholic.
Ilse spent her childhood in Linz. After her parents divorced, she moved back to Vienna. She lived there with her mother and sister. Ilse went to a Catholic high school.
In 1938, Austria became part of Nazi Germany. This event was called the Anschluss. After this, Ilse's family faced harsh treatment from the Nazis. Because she was considered "half-Jewish," she was not allowed to continue her studies. Instead, she was forced to work in a button factory.
In July 1939, her sister Helga escaped the Nazis. She went to England through a special program called Kindertransport. Helga later had a daughter named Ruth Rix, who became a famous English artist. During World War II, Ilse bravely hid her mother in her room. This room was right across from the main Nazi police (Gestapo) office in Vienna. Sadly, many of her mother's relatives were killed. This included her grandmother Gisela, whom Ilse loved very much. They were sent to a terrible camp near Minsk.
Her Writing Career
In 1945, after the war, Ilse started studying medicine at the University of Vienna. At the same time, she began to write. Her first published work was Das vierte Tor (The Fourth Gate). In this book, she wrote about her difficult experiences under Nazi rule.
In 1947, Ilse and her mother visited Helga and Ruth in London. This visit inspired Ilse to write a short story called "Dover."
She stopped her medical studies in 1948 to finish her novel, Die größere Hoffnung ("The Greater Hope"). This book became one of the most important German-language novels of the 20th century. It tells a dream-like story about a child being persecuted by the Nazis in Vienna.
In 1949, Ilse wrote the short story "Spiegelgeschichte" (meaning "Mirror Story"). It was published in an Austrian newspaper. This story is very famous in Austria because it is taught in schools. It is written backward, starting with the end of a woman's life and ending with her childhood.
Ilse also worked for publishing companies in Vienna and Frankfurt. She helped to start a writing school in Ulm, Germany.
In 1951, Ilse was invited to join a group of writers called Gruppe 47. This group wanted to spread democratic ideas in Austria after the war. She read "Spiegelgeschichte" to the group. Many important writers were impressed by her unusual way of telling a story. The next year, she won the group's prize for best text. She was the first woman to receive this award. In 1956, she joined the Academy of Arts, Berlin. She also taught about literature at the University of Vienna.
Some people have compared Ilse Aichinger's writing to that of Franz Kafka. They said her stories, like "Der gefesselte Mann" ("The Bound Man"), used symbols in interesting ways. However, other critics said Ilse's work was special because it focused more on the emotional pain of people.
After her husband, the German poet Günter Eich, died in 1972, Ilse helped to edit and publish his collected works. In 1996, when she was 75, she hosted a German radio show about literature.
Ilse Aichinger passed away on November 11, 2016, at the age of 95.
Her Family Life
Ilse Aichinger met the poet and radio play author Günter Eich through the Group 47. They got married in 1953. They had a son named Clemens (born 1954, died 1998) and a daughter named Mirjam (born 1958).
Awards She Won
- Group 47 Literature Prize (1952)
- Immermann-Preis (1955)
- Literaturpreis der Stadt Bremen (1957)
- Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste (1961, 1991)
- Anton Wildgans Prize (1968)
- Nelly Sachs Prize (1971)
- Roswitha Prize (1975)
- Petrarca-Preis (1982)
- Europalia Literature Prize (1987)
- Grand Austrian State Prize (1995)
- Austrian State Prize for European Literature (1996)
- Joseph-Breitbach-Preis, shared with W. G. Sebald and Markus Werner (2000)
Her Works
- 1945: Das vierte Tor (The Fourth Gate), an essay
- 1948: Die größere Hoffnung (The Greater Hope), a novel
- 1949: "Spiegelgeschichte", a short story
- 1951: Rede unter dem Galgen (Speech under the Gallows), short stories
- 1953: Der Gefesselte (The Bound Man), short stories
- 1953: Knöpfe (Buttons), a radio play
- 1954: Plätze und Strassen (Squares and Streets), short stories
- 1957: Zu keiner Stunde. Szenen und Dialoge (Not at Any Time. Scenes and Dialogues), radio plays
- 1963: Wo ich wohne (Where I Live), short stories
- 1965: Eliza, Eliza, short stories
- 1968: Meine Sprache und ich, short stories
- 1969: Auckland, radio plays
- 1970: Nachricht vom Tag (News of the Day), short stories
- 1973: Zweifel an Balkonen (Doubts about Balconies), short story
- 1974: Gare maritime, a radio play
- 1976: Schlechte Wörter (Inferior Words), short stories
- 1978: Verschenkter Rat, poems
- 1996: Kleist, Moos, Fasane, a collection of short works
- 2001: Film und Verhängnis. Blitzlichter auf ein Leben (Film and Fate. Flashlights on a Life), her autobiography
- 2005: Unglaubwürdige Reisen, short stories
- 2006: Subtexte, an essay
Translated Works
- The Bound Man and Other Stories. Translated by Eric Mosbacher. Secker & Warburg, London 1955
- Herod's Children. Translated by Cornelia Schaeffer. Atheneum, New York 1963
- Selected Stories and Dialogs. Edited by James C. Alldridge. Pergamon Press, Oxford, New York 1966
- Selected Poetry and Prose. Edited and translated by Allen H. Chappel. Logbridge-Rhodes, Durango, Colorado 1983
- The Greater Hope. Translated by Geoff Wilkes. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2016
- Bad Words. Selected Short Prose. Translated by Uljana Wolf and Christian Hawkey. Seagull Books, London / New York / Kalkutta 2019
- Squandered Advice. Translated by Steph Morris. Seagull Books, 2022
See also
In Spanish: Ilse Aichinger para niños
