author
Richard von Schaukal
1874–1942
A Moravia-born Austrian poet, essayist, translator, and critic, he moved through the world of fin-de-siècle Vienna with a sharp eye for style and culture. His best-known work, "Leben und Meinungen des Herrn Andreas von Balthesser eines Dandy und Dilettanten," helped make him a notable voice of early 20th-century Austrian literature.
2 Audiobooks
Leben und Meinungen des Herrn Andreas von Balthesser, eines Dandy und Dilettanten
by Richard von Schaukal
Mimi Lynx: Eine Novelle
by Richard von Schaukal
About the author
Born in Brno on May 27, 1874, and later active in Vienna, Richard von Schaukal was an Austrian writer whose work ranged across poetry, essays, fiction, translation, and literary criticism. He studied law, entered the civil service, and after retiring early in 1918 devoted himself more fully to writing.
Schaukal is often associated with the refined, self-conscious literary culture of the Viennese fin de siècle. Alongside lyric poetry and prose, he wrote cultural criticism and biographies, and he translated from French. His most widely remembered book is Leben und Meinungen des Herrn Andreas von Balthesser eines Dandy und Dilettanten, a work that reflects his interest in elegance, pose, and the tensions of modern life.
He died in Vienna on October 10, 1942. Today, he is remembered less as a mass-market author than as a distinctive literary figure whose work captures a particular mood in Austrian and Central European writing at the turn of the century.