Erich von Mendelssohn

Born in 1887, Erich von Mendelssohn was a German writer whose life and career were cut short when he died in 1913. He was part of the wider Mendelssohn family, a name long associated with German and European cultural life.

Although he died very young, his work continued to appear around the time of his death, including Tag und Nacht in 1914. He is also remembered through his family: his son Harald von Mendelssohn later became a journalist.

Because his life was so brief, the surviving record is limited, but that very brevity gives his work a special poignancy. He belongs to a generation of early 20th-century writers whose voices emerged in a tense, changing Europe and were gone almost before they could fully develop.