Frederic Morton

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Frederic Morton (2013)

Frederic Morton (born October 5, 1924 in Vienna as Fritz Mandelbaum ; † April 20, 2015 there ) was an American writer of Austrian origin.

Life

Fritz Mandelbaum grew up in middle-class living conditions at Thelemangasse 8 in Vienna's 17th district, Hernals , not far from Brunnenmarkt , Yppenmarkt and Gürtel, as the son of Franz Mandelbaum, and went to the Hernalser Gymnasium Geblergasse . According to a résumé published in 2002, he was the best athlete in school (Morton, 2002: I was a bad student. The only thing that interested me was sports .… I actually wanted to be a physical education teacher… ).

The house at Thelemangasse 8 in Hernals (17th district) where Almondbaum was born and grew up. To the right of this are houses 6, 4 and 2, which were also family-owned at the time. Veronikagasse on the left, border to the 16th district

The house at Thelemangasse 8 and the three adjoining houses No. 2, 4 and 6 were owned by his family. Grandfather and father were successful hardware manufacturers. The family business was founded by grandfather Bernhard Mandelbaum, who forged orders and medals for Emperor Franz Joseph I. kuk . According to Morton, he bought the house at Thelemangasse 8 from a member of the Kuffner family , who until 1938 owned the Ottakringer brewery , which is currently the only major brewery in Vienna.

At Thelemangasse 8, Grandfather Mandelbaum recently rented rooms to a Jewish-Orthodox prayer house, which was destroyed after the transfer of power to the National Socialists and the "annexation" of Austria to the German Reich in the course of the November pogroms in 1938 . In this context, Morton's father was briefly detained in the Dachau concentration camp in Bavaria.

In 1939 the Jewish Mandelbaum family from Vienna had to emigrate to England, and since 1940 they have lived in New York .

Arrived in the United States, Franz Mandelbaum, Frederic Morton's father, changed the family name to Morton . According to the curriculum vitae in 2002, as Mr. Mandelbaum were not allowed to join the then anti-Semitic US unions . Frederic Morton attended a bakery trade school and worked as a baker from 1940-1949. He studied food chemistry (Morton: I was the only one from the trade school who went to university. ) Up to the Bachelor of Science.

As an American correspondent, Morton came back temporarily to Vienna in 1951, which at that time was partly occupied by the United States . His literary talent is said to have been praised by Thomas Mann (further details are missing).

From 1949 on, Morton studied literature up to a master's degree in philosophy of language. He got to know his wife Marcia (Millicent) Colman and married her on March 28, 1957 in Mirabell Palace in Salzburg , the seat of the Salzburg City Council.

From 1959 on, Morton was a freelance writer. He has worked as a columnist for The New York Times , Playboy , Esquire and Village Voice , among others . With his 1962 novel The Rothschilds. A Family Portrait , which appeared in numerous languages, he established himself as a bestselling author. In 1963 he received the "Author of the Year Award" from the Anti-Defamation League of the USA.

His wife, Marcia Colman Morton, was also a journalist. She wrote, among other things, Art of Viennese Cooking ( the art of Viennese pastries ) and together with Frederic Morton Chocolate: An Illustrated History . Marcia died in 2003.

Awards

obituary

In 2015, Vanity Fair magazine said in an obituary on its website, Austria never left him , and specifically named his book A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888–1889 , which, like The Rothschilds, made it to the finals of the US National Book Award . The New York Times website said that Morton had made a celebrated literary career in the United States . The Washington Post wrote that Morton was a highly regarded chronicler of his abandoned homeland , capturing in works of history and fiction the Viennese society at the fin de siecle and on the eve of two world wars .

An extensive estate with manuscripts and documents by the author was given to the Austrian National Library by his daughter Rebecca Morton .

In March 2019, the district representative meeting in Vienna-Hernals decided to rename the Pezzlpark near the Jörgerbad to Frederic-Morton-Park .

Works

  • Dark passion. From the American by Katrin Kaufmann. Schuler, Stuttgart 1951.
  • Asphalt and desire ( asphalt and Desire ). Translated from the English by Heinz Winter. Zsolnay, Vienna-Hamburg 1961.
  • The Rothschilds . Portrait of a family. (Original: The Rothschilds. A Family Portrait .) Translated into German by Hans Lamm. Droemer-Knaur, Munich-Zurich 1962. The work appears in 24 languages ​​and has a circulation of 2.5 million copies.
  • The shadow affair. Molden, Vienna 1965.
  • Fateful year Vienna 1888/89 (Original: A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888–1889 ). From the American by Karl Erwin Lichtenecker. Molden, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-217-01138-4 .
    Re-release as A Last Waltz. Vienna 1888/89. Deuticke, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-216-30146-X .
  • Weather lights 1913/1914. From the American by Johannes Eidlitz. Ueberreuter, Vienna 1990, ISBN 3-8000-3353-4 .
  • Crosstown sabbath. About the compulsion to rest. With a foreword by Adolf Holl . Authorized translation from the American by Susanne Costa. Deuticke, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-216-30041-2 .
  • Stories from two worlds. Deuticke, Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-216-30061-7 .
  • Ewigkeitsgasse , Roman (Original: The Forever Street , 1984). From the American English by Hermann Stiehl. Deuticke, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-216-30191-5 ; Special edition as the first work of the Vienna free book campaign Eine Stadt, which has been taking place annually since 2002 . A book. , supplemented by a foreword by Mayor Michael Häupl , a résumé of the author and an interview with him, 100,000 copies; In this special edition, the translator was not named without giving reasons.
  • The magic ship. From the American by Karl-Erwin Lichtenecker. Deuticke, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-216-30469-8 .
  • Home through the world. My life between Vienna and New York. Autobiography. From the American English by Susanne Costa. Deuticke, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-552-06030-8 .
  • Marcia Morton and Frederic Morton: Chocolate. Cocoa, praline, truffle & Co. From the American ( Chocolate: An Illustrated History. ) By Kurt Bracharz. Deuticke, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-216-30157-5 .

literature

  • Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century. Volume 2: J-R. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , pp. 947f.

Editor's note

The Thelemangasse, where Morton was born, is often quoted as Thelemanngasse. An interview with Morton on the 2002 edition of the novel Ewigkeitsgasse (see section Own works) was illustrated with a photo of the author, who is in an interior space in front of a street sign on Thelemann-Gasse. This is not an original board, as the street name was not spelled with a double n even a hundred years ago.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ orf.at - writer Frederic Morton dies , article from April 20, 2015, accessed on the same day
  2. ↑ A star author on his tracks in Hernals . Article dated March 30, 2011, accessed April 20, 2015.
  3. ^ Association of graduates and sponsors of the Hernalser Gymnasium Geblergasse, Frederic Morton ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 20, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geblergassler.at
  4. ↑ Wiener Zeitung: Morton, Frederic: With the power of the stone ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , April 8, 2000 (accessed November 18, 2013) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wienerzeitung.at
  5. ^ Ewigkeitsgasse , edition 2002, appendix without page numbers
  6. ^ Medal of Honor in Gold for Frederic Morton City Hall Correspondence of May 21, 2001 (accessed June 18, 2010)
  7. ↑ Exile literature: Austrian National Library receives bequest from Ruth Klüger and bequest from Frederic Morton. In: Austrian National Library. May 23, 2018, accessed May 24, 2018 .
  8. ^ National library receives Morton estate. In: derStandard.at. May 23, 2018, accessed May 24, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Green Hernals: Hernals commemorates Christine Nöstlinger and Frederic Morton . OTS announcement of March 6, 2019, accessed on March 11, 2019.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Morton, Frederic
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mandelbaum, Fritz (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer of Austrian origin
DATE OF BIRTH October 5, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 2015
Place of death Vienna