Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger (German: [ˈfɔɪçtˌvaŋɐ]; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German-Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Feuchtwanger's fierce criticism of the Nazi Party—years before it assumed power— and being Jewish ensured that he would be a target of government-sponsored persecution after Adolf Hitler's appointment as chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Following a brief period of internment in France, and a harrowing escape from Continental Europe, he sought asylum in the United States, where he died in 1958.

Feuchtwanger is often praised for his efforts to expose the brutality of the Nazis and criticized for his failure to acknowledge the brutality of the rule of Joseph Stalin.

Early life and education

Feuchtwanger's ancestors originated from the Middle Franconian city of Feuchtwangen which, following a pogrom in 1555, expelled all its resident Jews. Some of the expellees subsequently settled in Fürth where they were called the Feuchtwangers, meaning those from Feuchtwangen. Feuchtwanger's grandfather Elkan moved to Munich in the middle of the 19th century. Lion Feuchtwanger was born in 1884 to Orthodox Jewish margarine manufacturer Sigmund Feuchtwanger and his wife Johanna née Bodenheim. He was the oldest in a family of nine siblings of which two, Martin and Ludwig became authors; Ludwig's son is the London-based historian Edgar Feuchtwanger. Two of his sisters settled in Palestine following the rise of the Nazi Party, one was killed in a concentration camp, and one sister settled in New York City.

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Famous quotes by Lion Feuchtwanger:

"An action doesn't have to be wrong just because it is not logical. It doesn't have to be right just because it has its logic."

"There's only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there's no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime."

"I have always made an effort to render every detail of my reality with the greatest accuracy; but I have never paid attention to whether my presentation of historical facts was an exact one."

"Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects."

"An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary."

"From depicting the past, so goes the suspicion, it is a short step to glorifying the past."

"Both the historian and the novelist view history as the struggle of a tiny minority, able and determined to make judgments, which is up against a vast and densely packed majority of the blind, who are led by their instincts and unable to think for themselves."

"After closely examining my conscience, I venture to state that in my historical novels I intended the content to be just as modern and up-to-date as in the contemporary ones."

"What is a historian, anyway? It is someone who uses facts to record the development of humanity."

"Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future."

"I should add that it is open to debate whether what we call the writing of history these days is truly scientific."

"Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission."

Latest News for: lion feuchtwanger

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From the Allen house to the Waldorf school: What was destroyed — and spared — ...

The Los Angeles Times 25 Mar 2025

Westside Waldorf School, 17310 Sunset Blvd ... Mariposa St ... Actor Lee J ... The German Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife, Marta, bought the Villa Aurora, a Spanish-style mansion, during World War II and made it a salon hangout for the exiles ... .

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