Newsletter
Register to get the latest information and travel deals.
Additional Portals
Torberg, Friedrich (1908-1979)
Copyright: IMAGNO/Austrian Archives
Friedrich Torberg was born on 16 September 1908 in Vienna as Friedrich Ephraim Kantor, son of a well-to-do Jewish family from Prague. After the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire, the family moved to Prague in 1921. Torberg was writing – and being published – throughout his high school years, but failed to pass the rigorous exit exam (Matura). His first novel, "Der Schueler Gerber" (Pupil Gerber), an international success, is a semi-autobiographical novel telling the story of a high school student under the oppression of a tyrannical teacher.
From 1927 he worked as journalist in Prague, where he befriended the reporter Egon Erwin Kisch and the writers Alfred Polgar, Joseph Roth, Hermann Broch, Robert Musil and Franz Werfel.
He worked as a critic and journalist in Vienna and Prague until 1938, when his Jewish heritage compelled him to emigrate to France and, later, to the United States, where he worked as a scriptwriter, journalist and translator in Hollywood and New York. A naturalized American, Torberg returned to Vienna in 1951, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In 1954 Torberg founded the cultural magazine Forum. In the following years he made a name for himself as publisher of Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando and Peter Hammerschlag, as well as the perfect translator of Ephraim Kishon’s works. Torberg is known best for his satirical writings in fiction and nonfiction including "Die Tante Jolesch oder der Untergang des Abendlands in Anekdoten" (1975, Aunt Jolesch or The Decline of the West in Anecdotes), a much loved classic in Austria, this book is Friedrich Torberg's tribute to the largely Jewish coffeehouse culture that flourished in Vienna amidst the afterglow of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it’s sequel "Die Erben der Tante Jolesch" (1978, The Heirs of Aunt Jolesch). Friedrich Torberg died on 10 November 1979 in Vienna.
From 1927 he worked as journalist in Prague, where he befriended the reporter Egon Erwin Kisch and the writers Alfred Polgar, Joseph Roth, Hermann Broch, Robert Musil and Franz Werfel.
He worked as a critic and journalist in Vienna and Prague until 1938, when his Jewish heritage compelled him to emigrate to France and, later, to the United States, where he worked as a scriptwriter, journalist and translator in Hollywood and New York. A naturalized American, Torberg returned to Vienna in 1951, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In 1954 Torberg founded the cultural magazine Forum. In the following years he made a name for himself as publisher of Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando and Peter Hammerschlag, as well as the perfect translator of Ephraim Kishon’s works. Torberg is known best for his satirical writings in fiction and nonfiction including "Die Tante Jolesch oder der Untergang des Abendlands in Anekdoten" (1975, Aunt Jolesch or The Decline of the West in Anecdotes), a much loved classic in Austria, this book is Friedrich Torberg's tribute to the largely Jewish coffeehouse culture that flourished in Vienna amidst the afterglow of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it’s sequel "Die Erben der Tante Jolesch" (1978, The Heirs of Aunt Jolesch). Friedrich Torberg died on 10 November 1979 in Vienna.
Accommodations