Stefan Zweig

Stefan Zweig (; November 28, 1881 – February 22, 1942) was an Austrian writer of Jewish descent. He was born in Vienna. He volunteered to be a soldier in the First World War, and got the post as a military commentator. This made him an enemy of war. The Nazis gained power in Germany in 1933, and their influence could be felt in Austria as well. 1934, Stefan Zweig emigrated, first to London, then to South America. That way he lost much of his audience. He committed suicide (together with his second wife) by barbiturate overdose in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro in 1942.

He has written many books and poems. One of his best-known works is called 'Schachnovelle (The Royal Game, in English. In it, he describes a Chess player, that is forced to play against himself (while imprisoned). He explores the theme of madness. This book inspired the movie Geri's Game, made by Pixar in 1997.

 Further reading 
 Elizabeth Allday, Stefan Zweig: A Critical Biography, J. Philip O'Hara, Inc., Chicago, 1972

 Alberto Dines, Morte no Paraíso, a Tragédia de Stefan Zweig, Editora Nova Fronteira 1981, (rev. ed.) Editora Rocco 2004
 Alberto Dines, Tod im Paradies. Die Tragödie des Stefan Zweig, Edition Büchergilde, 2006
 Randolph J. Klawiter, Stefan Zweig. An International Bibliography, Ariadne Press, Riverside, 1991
 Donald A. Prater, European of Yesterday: A Biography of Stefan Zweig, Holes and Meier Publ., (rev. ed.) 2003
 George Prochnik, The Impossible Exile: Stefan Zweig at the End of the World, Random House, 2014, 
 Marion Sonnenfeld (editor), The World of Yesterday's Humanist Today. Proceedings of the Stafan Zweig Symposium, texts by Alberto Dines, Randolph J. Klawiter, Leo Spitzer and Harry Zohn, State University of New York Press, 1983
 Friderike Zweig, Stefan Zweig, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1946 (An account of his life by his first wife)
 Martin Mauthner, German Writers in French Exile, 1933-1940, Vallentine Mitchell, London 2007, 

 Other websites 

 Zweig Music Collection at the British Library 
 Stefan Zweig Collection at the Daniel A. Reed Library, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, NY 
 Stefan Zweig Centre Salzburg 
 Beware of Pity, review by Joan Acocella in The New York Review of Books, July 13, 2006
 Stefan Zweig at Project Gutenberg
 Zweig's foreword to The World of Yesterday

Category:1881 births
Category:1942 deaths
Category:Austrian Jews
Category:Drug-related suicides
Category:Jewish writers
Category:Refugees from Nazism
Category:Writers from Vienna