Ernst Weiss
Ernst Weiss was a notable Jewish author and physician, born on August 28, 1882, in Brünn, Austria (now Brno, Czech Republic). Following the death of his father when Weiss was just four years old, he faced significant financial challenges but managed to pursue his education, ultimately graduating from medical school in 1911. His medical career included work as a surgeon in various cities such as Weiden, Berlin, and Vienna, as well as serving as a regimental surgeon during World War I, for which he was honored with a Distinguished Service Cross.
Weiss's literary career began with the publication of his first novel, "Die Galeere," in 1913. Throughout his life, he wrote numerous novels, narratives, and a drama, achieving recognition including the Adalbert Founder Prize in 1928. His time in Berlin was marked by a connection with the literary community, including meeting Franz Kafka. However, the rise of the Nazi regime prompted Weiss to leave Germany; he moved to Prague and then to Paris after the death of his mother in 1934. Unfortunately, as the Nazis invaded Paris in 1940, Weiss took his own life. Despite the impact of his work, very few of his writings have been translated into English.
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Ernst Weiss
Writer
- Born: August 28, 1882
- Birthplace: Brünn, Austria (now Brno, Czech Republic)
- Died: June 14, 1940
- Place of death: Paris, France
Biography
Ernst Weiss, the son of a Jewish cloth dealer, Gustav Weiss, and his wife, Berta, was born in Brünn, Austria (now Brno, Czech Republic), on August 28, 1882. When he was four years old, his father died. Although this caused the family much financial hardship, Weiss was able to continue in school. He graduated from high school in 1902, and then studied medicine at the universities in Prague and Vienna.
In 1911, he graduated from medical school and that same year obtained employment as a surgeon at the hospital in Weiden. He later worked as a surgeon in Berlin and Vienna. Between 1912 and 1913, he was employed as a ship’s doctor and traveled throughout the Far East, visiting Japan, India, and other countries. While vacationing in Berlin in 1913, Weiss met writer Franz Kafka. Weiss’s first novel, Die Galeere, was published in Berlin in 1913.
Weiss served in Hungary as a regimental surgeon during World War I, receiving a Distinguished Service Cross for bravery. After the war ended, he worked at a hospital in Prague until 1920, when he became a full-time writer living in Berlin. For a time he was associated with the Berlin stock exchangeCourier. In 1928, Weiss won an Adalbert Founder Prize for literature, and he received a silver medal in art in the Olympiad held in Amsterdam for his novel Boëtius von Orlamlünde.
On February 27, 1933, the German parliament building, the Reichstag, was apparently deliberately set on fire. Adolf Hitler and other prominent Nazi leaders accused a known leader of the Communist Party of setting the blaze, and the man was subsequently arrested. This event was pivotal in the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany. Weiss, a Jew, left Berlin shortly after the incident. He returned to Prague, where he stayed until his mother died in January, 1934. Four weeks after her death, Weiss moved to Paris. In Paris, he was unable to secure a work permit as a physician, so he began to write for a number of emigrant magazines. After German troops invaded Paris in June, 1940, Weiss committed suicide.
During his lifetime, Weiss wrote many novels. He also wrote several narrations and a drama. His work has been republished in several collections, although little of his writing has been translated into English.