Fritz Hochwälder (1911–1986)

Fritz Hochwälder was born to a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria. His parents were Therese (Koenig) and Leonhard Hochwälder, an upholsterer, from whom he learned the craft as an apprentice. He also pursued higher education on his own, taking classes at the adult education center Volkshochschule Ottakring. He was involved with the Social Democratic Party of Austria. During this time, he began writing as a hobby. His tragedy Jehr (1933), and a comedy, Liebe in Florenz (1936), were produced at the Wiener Kammerspiele. In 1938, following Nazi Germany's Anschluss (annexation) of Austria, Hochwälder had to flee the country. He reached Switzerland by swimming across the Rhine, and spent some time in internment. Both his parents were murdered in the Nazi concentration camp at Terezín (Theresienstadt). Unable to obtain a work permit, Hochwälder turned to writing as a career. His early drama Das heilige Experiment (The Holy Experiment), was first performed in 1942 in Switzerland and then premiered in liberated Austria in 1947. The play was a major hit and brought him international fame after it was performed in Paris in 1952 under the title Sur la Terre comme au ciel. The following year, it was produced on Broadway in English translation as The Strong Are Lonely. Hochwälder's most successful period was the 1950s, when he served as playwright-in-residence at the Burgtheatre in Vienna and his works continued to be widely performed abroad. Most of his plays were social and political dramas that featured a conflict between individual morality and obedience to authority. His works were often adapted for television, and he also wrote screenplays. Among his many honors, Hochwälder received the Prize of the City of Vienna (1955) and the Grillparzer Prize (1956). His only full-length novel, Donnerstag (Thursday), written in pre-war Vienna and found among his papers after his death, was published posthumously in 1995.