Anna Seghers | |
|---|---|
_%E2%80%93_retouched_by_Carschten.jpg) Anna Seghers (1966) | |
| Born | Anna (Netty) Reiling 19 November 1900 Mainz, German Empire |
| Died | 1 June 1983 (aged 82) East Berlin, East Germany[1] |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | German Hungarian (by marriage, 1925) |
| Notable works | The Seventh Cross, Transit |
| Spouse | |
Anna Seghers (German: [ˈana ˈzeːɡɛʁs] ; born Anna Reiling, 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of German writer Anna Reiling, who was notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and married to a Hungarian Communist, Seghers escaped Nazi-controlled territory through wartime France. She was granted a visa and gained ship's passage to Mexico, where she lived in Mexico City (1941–47).
She returned to Europe after the war, living in West Berlin (1947–50), which was occupied by Allied forces. She eventually settled in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), where she worked on cultural and peace issues. She received numerous awards and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1959, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1972.[2]
She is believed to have based her pseudonym, Anna Seghers, on the surname of the Dutch painter and printmaker Hercules Pieterszoon Seghers or Segers (c. 1589 – c. 1638).
- ^ "Anna Seghers, Novelist, 82; 1942 Work Made into Movie". The New York Times. 2 June 1983.
- ^ Nomination archive – Anna (Netty) Seghers (Reiling) nobelprize.org