Author Barbara Frischmuth is Dead

In her books, she intensely engaged with other cultures, ideologies, and most recently with nature, having lived in Turkey and Egypt, Hungary and England, and always worked as a translator. Twenty-five years ago, Barbara Frischmuth finally returned to her hometown of Altaussee. There, she passed away on Sunday at the age of 83, as announced by Residenz Verlag on Monday morning.

Frischmuth: "Aging is the most natural thing in the world"

She had a relaxed attitude towards aging, as she said in an APA interview on the occasion of her 80th birthday: "Aging is the most natural thing in the world. If you don't want to grow old, there is only one alternative: to die young. And I missed that." Claudia Romeder, head of Residenz Verlag, honored Frischmuth as "a very special person": "Her view of the world was open and sensitive, her literary work was of extraordinary depth and diversity. I really appreciated her and her death is a great loss for all of us."

Just a few weeks ago, she published her last collection of stories, "The Beauty of Day and Night Moths" - in which she combined her expertise as a poet and gardener. As different as Frischmuth's heroes from the animal world appear in it, the approach in the four stories is unanimous: In all of them, there is an attempt to overcome the contrast between humans and nature with a lot of imagination. It is the dream of a peaceful coexistence based on mutual understanding that Frischmuth spun here in a diverse way.

She also dedicated herself to nature in her lectures "NATURE and the Attempts to Approach it with Language," which appeared in book form in 2021, shortly thereafter the collection of stories "Your Shadow Dances in the Kitchen" was published, in which she focused on strong women in unjust social conditions. Her most recent novel "Spilled Milk" in 2019 dealt with a childhood in Altaussee with strong autobiographical references.

Interpreting Institute instead of Hotel Management School

Barbara Frischmuth was born on July 5, 1941, in Altaussee. After the death of her father, who fell in Russia during World War II, she was raised by her mother, who ran the "Parkhotel" in Altaussee until the mid-1950s. Reading "One Thousand and One Nights" sparked her interest in the Orient, the foreign, and the other, which led her, after completing high school - with the Sisters of the Cross in Gmunden, in Bad Aussee, and finally in Graz, where she graduated in July 1959 - not to attend the hotel management school as originally intended, but to study Turkish and Hungarian at the Interpreting Institute in Graz and later Oriental Studies in Vienna.

The engagement with other cultures is reflected in her translation work and in her own extensive body of work, as well as in her international contacts. A scholarship first took her to Turkey in 1960/61 - to the Eastern Anatolian University in Erzurum. After her return, she read from her own works for the first time at the Graz "Forum Stadtpark" and became part of the "Graz Group". Even before she published these, she worked as a translator: in 1967, her translation of the concentration camp diary of the Transylvanian and Jewish Anna Novac was published. She presented her debut novel in 1968 with "The Convent School", in which Frischmuth described the authoritarian structures of a girls' high school.

After her highly acclaimed debut and the novel "The Disappearance of the Shadow in the Sun" (1973), the author achieved success primarily with the "Sternwieser Trilogy" (1976-1979), including "The Mystifications of Sophie Silber", in which she intensely explored the intertwining of mythological traditions and contemporary female life worlds, and the "Demeter Trilogy" (1986-1990), in which she addressed highly topical issues while maintaining her method of diverse references to ancient myths. The novel "About the Circumstances" (1987), following the story "Mistress of the Animals" (1986), could be read as a key novel - with a federal chancellor as a central literary figure, "Each Other's Child" (1990) with its war and Nazi biographies as a reappraisal of the Waldheim affair. Criticism of authority is one of the central aspects of Frischmuth's work.

In addition to stories, essays, radio and television plays, novels such as "The Decryption" (2001), "The Summer Anna Disappeared" (2004), the travel novel "Forget Egypt" (2008), and finally "Where We Come From" in 2012 were published. In her literary garden diaries like "Cinquefoil and Foxglove" (1999), "Snapdragon and Iris Sword" (2003), and "Marten, Rose, Finch, and Louse" (2007), she combined her writing with her passion for gardening. With the recently published "The Beauty of Day and Night Moths", Frischmuth leaves behind fantastic nature stories.

Frischmuth Honored Multiple Times

The author has repeatedly raised her voice when, instead of understanding and tolerance, terrorist attacks or wars dominate intercultural relations, or refugee policy turns out to be isolation rather than humanitarian aid. Frischmuth received numerous awards, including the Austrian Children's and Youth Book Prize in 1972, the Anton Wildgans Prize in 1973, and the Franz Nabl Literature Prize in 1999. In 2005, she was honored with the Austrian Book Trade's Honorary Award for Tolerance in Thought and Action, followed by the Grand Golden Decoration of Honor of the State of Styria in 2011, the Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the State of Vienna in 2019, and the Ring of Honor of the State of Styria.

In memory of Barbara Frischmuth, Ö1 is changing its program. On Monday at 9 PM, the "Menschenbilder" broadcast "Dream Border - The Writer Barbara Frischmuth" from 2021 can be heard. On Tuesday, Elisabeth Findeis reads from Frischmuth's essay "Nature and the Attempts to Approach It with Language" in the "Radio Stories" (11:05 AM), and at 4:05 PM, the "Sound Tracks" feature "I Have Always Tended to the Niche. The Somewhat Different Life Paths of the Writer Barbara Frischmuth" will be presented. On Saturday, Frischmuth's "Iris Elegantissima" is on the program of the "Ö1 Radio Play" (2:00 PM).

(APA/Red)

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