Kurt Tucholsky

Tucholsky, Kurt 

Born Jan. 1, 1890, in Berlin; died Dec. 21, 1935, in Hindas, near Göteborg, Sweden. German poet and publicist.

Tucholsky studied law at the universities of Berlin and Jena. His first work was published in 1907. He served as a soldier on the Eastern Front from 1915 to 1918. In 1929 he moved to Sweden. In 1933, Tucholsky’s books were burned by the German Nazis, and Tucholsky was deprived of German citizenship. He committed suicide in a state of depression.

Tucholsky’s works include the novella Reinsberg: A Picture Book for Those in Love (1912), the collections of satirical miniatures and poems Pious Chants (1919), With Five Horsepower (1927), Mona Lisa’s Smile (1929), Deutschland, Deutschland, Über Alies (1929), and Learn to Laugh Without Crying (1931), and the sentimental ironic novel Gripsholm Castle (1931). In these works, Tucholsky ridiculed the average German and exposed the bourgeois way of life, chauvinism, and militarism; he was also critical of the world’s tolerance of fascism.

WORKS

Gessammelte Werke, vols. 1–3. [Hamburg] 1960–61.
[Auswahl] vols. 1–6. Berlin, 1972–74.

REFERENCES

Lembrikova, B. S. “Satiricheskie novelly K. Tukhol’skogo.” In the collection Literatura i estetika. Leningrad, 1960.
Schulz, K. P. K. Tucholsky, 4th ed. Hamburg, 1963.
Kleinschmidt, K. K. Tucholsky. Leipzig, 1961.