Arthur West

Arthur West (born August 24, 1922 in Vienna , Austria as Arthur Rosenthal ; † August 16, 2000 there ) was an Austrian poet , writer and political journalist .

Live and act

Arthur West was born as Arthur Rosenthal. He comes from a Jewish family and was therefore excluded from school in 1938. At the end of January 1939 he fled Austria and emigrated to England without his parents . He was the only member of the family who had received an exit permit. His mother was able to flee to Zagreb and later joined Tito's partisans.

In England he worked as an unskilled worker in a shoe factory. In 1940 he was interned as a so-called " enemy alien " (German passport) and deported to a camp in New South Wales , Australia . In 1941 he was rehabilitated, released, returned to England and worked as a cutter in a belt factory, later as a metal lathe operator. During this time he became a functionary of the youth organization of the Austrian emigrants in England, " Young Austria ", in 1942 a member of the Communist Youth Association. During this time, Rosenthal met the exile poet Theodor Kramer , among others . His first literary steps were published in the organs of the youth organizations mentioned. So z. B. in the anthology "Courage. Poems of Young Austrians!" in the publishing house "Jugendvors". In 1943 Arthur Rosenthal married Edith West, with whom he remained connected until the end of his life. Their best man was their mutual friend Erich Fried . In the same year he signed up as a volunteer in the British army to actively fight against Nazi fascism. In 1944 he was deployed on the Normandy landing and transferred to Italy at the end of the war. There, in 1946, he received the 1st prize in the drama competition of the Allied Forces in the Mediterranean for a one-act play "Why the bells of St. Johannis rang".

In November 1946 Arthur West returned to Vienna, where he lived until the end of his life in the so-called Triesterviertel in Favoriten . He became a member of the KPÖ and worked as a lecturer and foreign language corrector in the KPÖ party publisher Globus . From 1969 until his retirement in 1982, he succeeded Ernst Wimmer as head of the Volksstimme's cultural department .

Arthur West also actively participated in countless author readings, including the " Left Word " as part of the annual " Volksstimmefest " in the Vienna Prater . His personal contacts and friendships with Austrian cultural workers, in particular with authors, include names such as Elfriede Jelinek , Peter Turrini , Erika Danneberg, Ernst Hinterberger , Franz Kain , Marie-Thérèse Kerschbaumer , Karl Paryla , Erwin Riess , Gerhard Ruiss, Michael Scharang , Heinz Rudolf Unger , Helmut Zenker . Arthur West was an active member of the Jura Soyfer Society, which was founded in Vienna in 1988 . In 1986 Arthur West was given the title of professor (titular professor) very late but was given official recognition, as well as the award of the Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class .

Arthur West died on August 16, 2000 at the age of 78 in Vienna and was said goodbye to a large group of mourners on August 31, 2000 at the Vienna Central Cemetery and buried in the urn grove of the Simmering fire hall (Department 8, Ring 3, Group 4, Number 130) .

Awards

• Professional title Professor , 1986
• Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class , 1998

Works

• The great self-evidence - Lyrische Suite , Die Buchgemeinde, Vienna 1955
• Israel Proverbs , Foreword by Erich Fried, Frischfleisch-Löwenmaul, Vienna 1980
• Left Right - Poems to and for Austria , Herbstpresse, Vienna 1989
• Expulsion - Proverbs against fear , Herbstpresse, Vienna 1991
• The Israel Proverbs , Edition Schwarzdruck , Berlin 1997
• Male Nude - Love Poems , Edition Schwarzdruck, Berlin 1999
• The bitter monologue , Edition Schwarzdruck, Berlin 2001
• Attempt to publish a work volume 1: "Traces of Time", Political Poetry and Prose, Edition Schwarzdruck, Berlin 2002
• Attempt to publish a work volume 2: "Reimweh und Liederkehr", poetry and prose, Edition Schwarzdruck, Berlin 2002
• Attempt to publish a work volume 3: "Private Protocols", personal poetry and prose, Edition Schwarzdruck, Berlin 2002

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Arthur West - Reimweh und Liederkehr  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , read !! ing room .  

Web links

• Literature by and about Arthur West in the catalog of the German National Library