Arthur Schnitzler

Born in Vienna on May 15, 1862, Arthur Schnitzler trained as a physician before becoming one of the key voices of Viennese Modernism. He came from a medical family, earned his degree, and practiced medicine, with a strong interest in psychiatry and the workings of the mind.

That medical background shaped his writing. His plays and stories are known for their close attention to psychology and for their candid treatment of love, sexuality, death, and the strained social world of turn-of-the-century Vienna. He wrote in several forms, including drama, short fiction, and novels, and became especially admired for the precision and emotional intelligence of his character portraits.

Schnitzler died in Vienna on October 21, 1931. He remains an important figure in Austrian literature, remembered for works that quietly but powerfully expose the private thoughts behind public behavior.