ZWEIG, STEFAN


Meaning of ZWEIG, STEFAN in English

born Nov. 28, 1881, Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire

died Feb. 22, 1942, Petrópolis, near Rio de Janeiro, Braz.

Austrian writer.

He was deeply influenced by Sigmund Freud , whose theories on psychology informed Zweig's analyses of historical figures and his subtle portrayal of fictional characters. His essays include studies of Honoré de Balzac , Charles Dickens , and Fyodor Dostoyevsky , in Three Masters (1920); and Friedrich Hölderlin , Heinrich Kleist , and Friedrich Nietzsche , in Master Builders (1925). He achieved popularity with The Tide of Fortune (1928), five historical portraits in miniature. He also wrote biographies, poetry, short stories, dramas, and a novel. Driven into exile by the Nazis in 1934, Zweig and his second wife went to England and then Brazil, where, lonely and disillusioned, they committed suicide.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.