SCHAFFNER, JAKOB

born Nov. 14, 1875, Basel, Switz. died Sept. 23, 1944, Strasbourg, Fr. Swiss writer who lived in Germany from 1913. He belonged to a new generation of Swiss writers who, searching for uncompromising greatness and believing in life as a boundless adventure, broke away from the saturated tradition of middle-class society. Schaffner was orphaned at an early age. He described his life in four autobiographical novels: Johannes (1922), Die Jnglingszeit des Johannes Schattenhold (1930; The Youth of Johann Schattenhold), Eine deutsche Wanderschaft (1931; A German Journey), and Kampf und Reife (1939; Struggle and Resolution). These works depict his experiences as a child, a charity schoolboy, a shoemaker, and a roving and self-taught writer. Schaffner's writing is colourful, spirited, and imaginative; his convictions were those of Nietzsche and, to some extent, of Dostoyevsky and finally led him to follow the lure of Nazism. He went on to write more novelsKonrad Pilater (1910), Der Dechant von Gottesbren (1917; The Dean of Gottesbren), and Die Glcksfischer (1925; The Fisher for Happiness); a volume of poetry entitled Bekenntnis (1940; Confessions); and essaysDie Predigt der Marienburg (1931; The Sermon of Marienburg) and Berge, Strme und Stdte, eine schweizerische Heimatschau (1938; Mountains, Streams and Towns, a View of my Swiss Homeland).