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{{Short description|Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist (1874–1929)}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name          = Hugo von Hofmannsthal
| honorific_prefix = 
| honorific_suffix = 
| image         = File:Nicola Perscheid - Hugo von Hofmannsthal 1910.jpg
| caption       = ''Photograph by [[Nicola Perscheid]], 1910''
| native_name   =
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| pseudonym     = 
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1874|02|01|df=y}} 
| birth_place   = [[Landstraße]], Vienna, [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1929|07|15|1874|02|01|df=y}} 
| death_place   = Rodaun, [[Liesing]], Austria
| resting_place = 
| occupation    = {{hlist|[[Novelist]]|[[libretto|librettist]]|[[Poetry|poet]]|[[Playwright|dramatist]]|narrator|[[essay]]ist}}
| language      = German
| nationality   = 
| ethnicity     = 
| citizenship   = Austria
| education     = [[Akademisches Gymnasium (Vienna)|Akademisches Gymnasium]]
| alma_mater    = [[University of Vienna]]
| period        = 
| genre         = 
| subject       = 
| movement      = [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]]
| notableworks  = 
| spouse        = Gertrud Schlesinger
| partner       = 
| children      = Christiane, Franz, [[Raimund von Hofmannsthal|Raimund]]
| relatives     = 
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'''Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal''' ({{IPA|de|ˈhuːɡo fɔn ˈhoːfmanstaːl|lang|De-Hugo von Hofmannsthal.ogg}}; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, [[libretto|librettist]], poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.

==Early life==
[[File:H. von Hofmannsthal2.jpg|thumb|The house where Hofmannsthal was born, at Salesianergasse&nbsp;12, [[Landstraße]], Vienna&nbsp;3{{sfn|Volke|1967|p=10}}]]
Hofmannsthal was born in [[Landstraße]], Vienna, the son of an upper-class Christian Austrian mother, Anna Maria Josefa Fohleutner (1852–1904), and a Christian Austrian–Italian bank manager, Hugo August Peter Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal (1841–1915).<ref name="Schorske1980">[[Carl Emil Schorske|Schorske, Carl E]]. ''[[Fin-de-siècle Vienna]]: Politics and Culture'', 1980.</ref>

His grandfather was [[Augustin Emil Hofmann von Hofmannsthal]] and his great-grandfather [[Isaak Löw Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal]], from whom his family inherited the noble title "[[Edler]] von Hofmannsthal", was a [[Jewish]] tobacco farmer ennobled by the Austrian emperor.<ref name="McClatchy2008">[[J. D. McClatchy|McClatchy, J. D.]] (editor). ''The Whole Difference: Selected Writings of Hugo von Hofmannsthal'', [[Princeton University Press]], 2008, {{ISBN|978-0-691-12909-9}}. Chapter 1 contains a brief biography.</ref>

He was schooled in Vienna at [[Akademisches Gymnasium (Vienna)|Akademisches Gymnasium]], where he studied the works of [[Ovid]], later a major influence on his work.<ref name="Olive2019">{{cite journal|last1=Olive|first1=Peter|title=Reinventing the barbarian: Electra, sibling incest, and twentieth-century Hellenism|journal=Classical Receptions Journal|volume=11|issue=4|year=2019|page=414|issn=1759-5142|doi=10.1093/crj/clz012}}</ref> He began to write poems and plays from an early age. Some of his early works were written under pseudonyms, such as ''Loris Melikow'' and ''Theophil Morren'', because he was not allowed to publish as a student. He met the German poet [[Stefan George]] at the age of seventeen and had several poems published in George's journal, ''Blätter für die Kunst''. He studied [[law]] and later [[philology]] at the [[University of Vienna]] but decided to devote himself to writing upon graduating in 1901. Along with [[Peter Altenberg]] and [[Arthur Schnitzler]], he was a member of the [[Avant-garde|avant garde]] group [[Young Vienna]] (''Jung-Wien'').<ref name="Stork1918">[[Charles Wharton Stork|Stork, Charles Wharton]]. ''The Lyrical Poems of Hugo Von Hofmannsthal'', 1918.</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Hofmannsthal 1893.jpg|thumb|right|Hofmannsthal, 1893]]
In 1900 Hofmannsthal met the [[composer]] [[Richard Strauss]] for the first time. He later wrote [[libretto|libretti]] for several of his [[opera]]s, including ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' (1909), ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' (1911), the plot of which he developed together with [[Harry Graf Kessler]], ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' (1912, rev. 1916), ''[[Die Frau ohne Schatten]]'' (1919), ''[[Die ägyptische Helena]]'' (1928), and ''[[Arabella]]'' (1929, but first performed in 1933).<ref name="Volke1967"/>

Between 1891 and 1899 Hofmannsthal wrote a number of short verse plays, influenced by the static dramas of the Belgian writer [[Maurice Maeterlinck]], the dramatic monologues of the English Romantic poet [[Robert Browning]], and the ''proverbes dramatiques'' of the French poet [[Alfred de Musset]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hugo von Hofmannsthal {{!}} Austrian author {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hugo-von-Hofmannsthal |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

In 1911 he adapted the 15th century English [[morality play]] ''[[Everyman (15th-century play)|Everyman]]'' as ''[[Jedermann (play)|Jedermann]]'', and Einar Nilson wrote the music for it. The play later became a staple at the [[Salzburg Festival]].<ref name="Volke1967">{{Cite book|last=Volke|first=Werner|title=Hugo von Hofmannsthal|publisher=Rowohlt|year=1967}}</ref>

During World War I Hofmannsthal held a government post.<ref name="Schorske1980"/> He wrote speeches and articles supporting the war effort, and emphasizing the cultural tradition of [[Austria-Hungary]]. The end of the war spelled the end of the [[Habsburg monarchy]] in Austria; this was a blow from which the patriotic and conservative-minded Hofmannsthal never fully recovered.<ref name="Stillmark2016">''An Impossible Man'' (''Der Schwierige'') translated with an introduction by Alexander Stillmark (Modern Humanities Association, Cambridge, 2016, {{ISBN|9781781882740}}).</ref>

Nevertheless, the years after the war were very productive ones for Hofmannsthal; he continued with his earlier literary projects, almost without a break. He wrote several new libretti for Richard Strauss operas. In 1920, Hofmannsthal, along with [[Max Reinhardt]], founded the Salzburg Festival.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.salzburgerfestspiele.at/en/history| title = The History of the Salzburg Festival| accessdate = October 26, 2021| website = salzburgerfestspiele.at}}</ref> His later plays revealed a growing interest in [[religion|religious]], particularly [[Roman Catholicism in Austria|Roman Catholic]], themes. Among his writings was a screenplay for [[Der Rosenkavalier (1926 film)|a film version]] of ''Der Rosenkavalier'' (1925) directed by [[Robert Wiene]].<ref name="Junk2015">Junk, Anke. ''Andreas oder Die Vereinigten von Hugo von Hofmannsthal – eine kulturpsychoanalytische Untersuchung.'' Hannover, Impr. Henner Junk, 2015, {{OCLC|1002264029}}.</ref>

===Thought===
On 18 October 1902 Hofmannsthal published a fictive letter in the Berlin daily ''Der Tag'' (''The Day''), titled simply [[The Lord Chandos Letter|"Ein Brief" ("A Letter")]]. It was purportedly written in 1603 by Philip, Lord Chandos, to [[Francis Bacon]]. In this letter Chandos says that he has stopped writing because he has "lost completely the ability to think or to speak of anything coherently"; he has given up on the possibility of language to describe the world. This letter reflects the growing distrust of and dissatisfaction with language that so characterizes the Modern era, and Chandos's dissolving personality is not only individual but societal.<ref name="Gottfried2007">Gottfried, Paul. "Hugo von Hoffmannsthal and the Interwar European Right." ''Modern Age'' 49.4 (2007): pp. 508+ [http://www.mmisi.org/MA/49_04/gottfried.pdf online].</ref>

Growing up the son of a wealthy merchant who was well connected with the major artists of the time, Hofmannsthal was raised in what [[Carl Emil Schorske|Carl Schorske]] refers to as "the temple of art". This perfect setting for aesthetic isolation allowed Hofmannsthal the unique perspective of the privileged artist, but also allowed him to see that art had become a flattened documenting of humanity, which took our instincts and desires and framed them for viewing without acquiring any of the living, passionate elements. Because of this realization, Hofmannsthal's idea of the role of the artist began to take shape as someone who created works that would inspire or inflame the instinct, rather than merely preserving it in a creative form. He also began to think that the artist should not be someone isolated and left to his art, but rather a man of the world, immersed in both politics and art.<ref name="Burks2017">Burks, Marlo (translator, introduction). [http://www.iudicium.de/katalog/86205-506.htm ''Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Writings on Art / Schriften zur Kunst''.] German and English. German texts in English translation, Volume II. Hans-Günther Schwarz and Norman R. Diffey (editors). Iudicium, 2017. Translation of and introduction to Hofmannsthal's writings on visual art.</ref>

Hofmannsthal saw in English culture the ideal setting for the artist. This was because the English simultaneously admired [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Admiral Nelson]], a war hero, and [[John Milton]], a poet, while still maintaining a solid national identity. "In [Hofmannsthal's] view, the division between artist (writer) and man of action (politician, explorer, soldier) does not exist in England. Britain provides her subjects with a common base of energy which functions as equilibrium, a force lacking in fragmented Germany" (Weiss). This singular and yet pragmatic identity must have appealed to Hofmannsthal to a certain degree due to the large scale fragmentation of Austria at the time, which was witnessing the birth of radical nationalism and anti-Semitism, a nation in which the progressive artist and the progressive politician were growing more different and hostile to each other by the day.<ref name="Broch1984">[[Hermann Broch|Broch, Hermann]] (Author), Steinberg, Michael P. (Translator). ''Hugo von Hofmannsthal and His Time: The European Imagination, 1860&ndash;1920'', University Of Chicago Press, 1984, {{ISBN|978-0-226-07516-7}}.</ref><ref name="Weiss1973">Weiss, Winifred. ''Comparative Literature''. Vol&nbsp;25, no.&nbsp;1. (Winter, 1973) pp.&nbsp;60&ndash;67.</ref>

=== Influence ===
The Austrian author [[Stefan Zweig]] wrote in his memoirs ''[[The World of Yesterday]]'' (1942) on Hofmannsthal's early accomplishments and their influence on Zweig's generation:
{{Blockquote|The appearance of the young Hofmannsthal is and remains notable as one of the greatest miracles of accomplishment early in life; in world literature, except for [[John Keats|Keats]] and [[Arthur Rimbaud|Rimbaud]], I know no other youthful example of a similar impeccability in the mastering of language, no such breadth of spiritual buoyancy, nothing more permeated with poetic substance even in the most casual lines, than in this magnificent genius, who already in his sixteenth and seventeenth year had inscribed himself in the eternal annals of the German language with unextinguishable verses and prose which today has still not been surpassed. His sudden beginning and simultaneous completion was a phenomenon that hardly occurs more than once in a generation.|Stefan Zweig|''[[Die Welt von Gestern]]'', Frankfurt am Main 1986, 63–64}}

==Personal life==
[[File:Raimund von Hofmannsthal.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of his younger son, [[Raimund von Hofmannsthal|Raimund]]]]
In 1901 he married Gertrud "Gerty" Schlesinger, the daughter of a Viennese [[Jewish]] banker.<ref name="GertyObit1959">{{cite news |title=POET'S WIDOW IS DEAD; Frau Hugo von Hofmannsthal Succumbs in London |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/11/11/archives/poets-widow-is-dead-frau-hugo-von-hofmannsthal-succumbs-in-london.html |access-date=17 March 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 November 1959}}</ref> Gerty converted to Christianity before their marriage, and they settled in [[Rodaun]] (now part of [[Liesing]]), not far from [[Vienna]], and had three children:

* {{ill|Christiane Zimmer|de|lt=Christiane von Hofmannsthal}}<!--Q24260023--> (1902–1987), who married German [[Indology|indologist]] [[Heinrich Zimmer]] in early 1929. Zimmer taught at [[University of Greifswald]], [[Heidelberg University]], and [[Balliol College, Oxford]]. After they moved to [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]], he became a visiting lecturer at [[Columbia University]].<ref name="1963Engagement">{{cite news |title=Michael Zimmer Becomes Fiance Of Miss Harding; Graduate of Harvard to Wed Descendant of John Jacob Astor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/05/27/archives/michael-zimmer-becomes-fiance-of-miss-harding-graduate-of-harvard.html |access-date=17 March 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 May 1963}}</ref><ref name="1963Wedding">{{cite news |title=Michael Zimmer Weds Miss Emily S. Harding |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/30/archives/michael-zimmer-weds-miss-emily-s-harding.html |access-date=17 March 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 June 1963}}</ref>
* Franz von Hofmannsthal (1903–1929), who committed suicide on 13 July 1929.
* [[Raimund von Hofmannsthal]] (1906–1974), who married [[Ava Alice Muriel Astor]], daughter of [[John Jacob Astor IV]] and [[Ava Lowle Willing]] in 1933.<ref>{{cite news |title=Astor Heiress Wed Quietly in Jersey. Princess Obolensky Becomes Bride of Raimund von Hof-mannsthal of Austria. Troth Not Announced. Ceremony Performed Saturday by Police Court Judge. Couple Left Immediately for Europe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/01/24/archives/astor-heiress-wed-quietly-in-jersey-princess-obolensky-becomes.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 24, 1933 |access-date=2009-02-16}}</ref> After divorcing Ava in 1939, Raimund later married Lady Elizabeth Paget, daughter of [[Charles Paget, 6th Marquess of Anglesey|the 6th Marquess of Anglesey]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Niece of Astor Wed in London To Art Director; Miss von Hofmannsthal Is Married to Roderick McEwen of Spectator|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/04/16/archives/niece-of-astor-wed-in-london-to-art-director-miss-von-hofmannsthal.html|access-date=2 February 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=16 April 1958}}</ref>

Two days after his elder son Franz committed suicide, Hugo himself died of a stroke while dressing for the funeral at Rodaun.<ref name="HvHObit1929">{{cite news |title=AUSTRIAN POET DIES AFTER SON'S SUICIDE; Hugo von Hoffmannsthal Succumbs to Heart Attack When Dressing for the Funeral. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/07/16/archives/austrian-poet-dies-after-sons-suicide-hugo-von-hoffmannsthal.html |access-date=17 March 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 July 1929}}</ref> He was buried wearing the habit of a [[Third Order of Saint Francis|Franciscan tertiary]], as he had requested.<ref name="Volke1967"/> His widow, who acquired [[Schloss Prielau]] in 1932, died in London in 1959.<ref name="GertyObit1959"/>

==Bibliography==
'''Plays'''{{flatlist|
*''Der Tor und der Tod'' (1893)
*''Der Tod des Tizian'' (1892)
*''{{ill|Elektra (Hofmannsthal play)|it|Elettra (Hofmannsthal)|lt=Elektra}}'' (1903)
*''Ödipus und die Sphinx'' (1906)
*''Die Frau im Fenster'' (1909)
*''Christinas Heimreise'' (1910)
*''[[Jedermann (play)|Jedermann]]'' (1911)
*''{{ill|Der Schwierige|de}}'' (1921)
*''{{ill|Das Salzburger große Welttheater|de}}'' (1922)
*''Der Turm'' (1925)
}}
'''Libretti'''{{flatlist|
*''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' (1909)
*''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' (1911)
*''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' (1912, rev. 1916)
*''[[Die Frau ohne Schatten]]'' (1919)
*''[[Die ägyptische Helena]]'' (1928)
*''[[Arabella]]'' (1933)
}}
'''Narrations and fictitious conversations'''{{flatlist|
*''Das Märchen der 672. Nacht'' (1895)
*''Reitergeschichte'' (1899)
*''Erlebnis des Marschalls von Bassompierre'' (1900)
*''[[The Lord Chandos Letter|Ein Brief (Brief des Lord Chandos an Francis Bacon)]]'' (1902)
*''Die Wege und die Begegnungen'' (1907)
*''Die Briefe des Zurückgekehrten'' (1907–1908)
*''Das fremde Mädchen'' (1911)
*''Reise im nördlichen Afrika'' (1925)
}}
'''Novel (fragment)'''{{flatlist|
*''Andreas oder Die Vereinigten'' (1907–1927)
}}
'''Essays, speeches, prose'''{{flatlist|
*''Zur Physiologie der modernen Liebe'' (1891)
*''Poesie und Leben'' (1896)
*''Über Gedichte'' (1904)
*''Der Dichter und diese Zeit'' (1907)
*''Appell an die oberen Stände'' (1914)
*''Krieg und Kultur'' (1915)
*''Wir Österreicher und Deutschland'' (1915)
*''Österreich im Spiegel seiner Dichtung'' (1916)
*''Preuße und Österreicher'' (1917)
*''Die Idee Europa'' (1917)
*''Buch der Freunde, Aphorismen'' (1922)
*''Früheste Prosastücke'' (1926)
*''Wert und Ehre deutscher Sprache'' (1927)
*''Das Schrifttum als geistiger Raum der Nation'' (1927)
}}
'''Poetry'''{{flatlist|
*''Siehst du die Stadt?'' (1890)
*''Spaziergang'' (1893)
*''Ballade des äusseren Lebens'' (1894)
*''Gedichte in Terzinen'' (1894)
*''Traum von großer Magie'' (1896)
*''Gedichte'' (1922)
}}

== See also ==

* [[List of Austrian writers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* This article incorporates material from the German Wikipedia article.
* HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL, SELECT NARRATIVE PROSE, Translated with an Introduction by ALEXANDER STILLMARK, Ariadne Press, Riverside, CA, 2020.
* HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL, THE INCORRUPTIBLE SERVANT, (Der Unbestechliche) Translated with an Introduction by ALEXANDER STILLMARK (Modern Humanities Association, Cambridge 2021).
* HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL, AN IMPOSSIBLE MAN, (Der Schwierige) Translated with an Introduction and Appendixes by Alexander Stillmark (Modern Humanities Association, Cambridge 2016).
* ALEXANDER STILLMARK, HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL, STUDIES IN COMPARISON, (Ariadne Press, Riverside, California, 2024)
* Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Selected Poems: Rhymed and metered translation by Claude Neuman, with the original text opposite. Ressouvenances Editions, 2025 http://www.ressouvenances.fr/
* [[Walter Kappacher]]: ''Der Fliegenpalast'' ([[:de:Der Fliegenpalast|de]]), Residenz Verlag, Salzburg, 2009. ISBN 978-3-7017-1510-7; English: ''Palace of Flies'', New Vessel Press, New York, 2022, translated by Georg Bauer, ISBN 978-1-954404-02-1.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisource|de}}
{{Wikiquote lang|de}}
*{{Gutenberg author | id=33600| name=Hugo von Hofmannsthal}}
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Hugo von Hofmannsthal}}
*{{Librivox author |id=66}} {{in lang|de}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060404225900/http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/german/homes/krause/hofmannsthal/ Hugo von Hofmannsthal Resource Center]
*[http://faculty.washington.edu/vienna/literature/hofmannsthal/index.htm University of Washington Vienna 1900 Page]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/008047}}
* {{IBDB name|9642}}
* {{IMDb name|0902446}}

{{German literature}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmannsthal, Hugo Von}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
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[[Category:Librettists from Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:19th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights]]
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[[Category:19th-century Austrian poets]]
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[[Category:20th-century Austrian male writers]]
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[[Category:People from Landstraße]]
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[[Category:Hugo von Hofmannsthal| ]]