Far from Where
My life between three worlds
New country, new life
As the terror of the Nazi regime unfolds in Germany, Robert Schopflocher, the son of a Jewish-Franconian merchant, emigrates to Argentina at the age of fourteen with his family. He works on a fruit plantation in Northern Patagonia, takes up the study of agriculture, and joins his father’s business in 1951. At first hand, he witnesses both the rise of president Perón and the emerging terror regime of the military junta following the dictator’s death. Schopflocher turns his attention to literature and, through his novels and short stories – in Spanish as well as German – he lives to become one of the best known Argentinean authors of all time, with a large following in Germany. Winner of the Jakob Wassermann Literature Prize 2008
Robert Schopflocher was born in 1923 in Fürth, Bavaria. At the age of ten, he witnessed the seizure of power by the Nazi Party, followed by years of isolation and hostility. In 1937, the family emigrated to Argentina. There, Schopflocher managed a fruit farm, and later went on to become one of Latin America’s most successful writers. Today, he lives in Buenos Aires.
“His language is reminiscent of Stefan Zweig or Lion Feuchtwanger … A writer who feels committed to the legacy of Enlightenment.”
DR. GUNNAR OCH, during his speech on the occasion of the award of the Jakob Wassermann Literature Prize, 2008
New country, new life
As the terror of the Nazi regime unfolds in Germany, Robert Schopflocher, the son of a Jewish-Franconian merchant, emigrates to Argentina at the age of fourteen with his family. He works on a fruit plantation in Northern Patagonia, takes up the study of agriculture, and joins his father’s business in 1951. At first hand, he witnesses both the rise of president Perón and the emerging terror regime of the military junta following the dictator’s death. Schopflocher turns his attention to literature and, through his novels and short stories – in Spanish as well as German – he lives to become one of the best known Argentinean authors of all time, with a large following in Germany. Winner of the Jakob Wassermann Literature Prize 2008
Robert Schopflocher was born in 1923 in Fürth, Bavaria. At the age of ten, he witnessed the seizure of power by the Nazi Party, followed by years of isolation and hostility. In 1937, the family emigrated to Argentina. There, Schopflocher managed a fruit farm, and later went on to become one of Latin America’s most successful writers. Today, he lives in Buenos Aires.
“His language is reminiscent of Stefan Zweig or Lion Feuchtwanger … A writer who feels committed to the legacy of Enlightenment.”
DR. GUNNAR OCH, during his speech on the occasion of the award of the Jakob Wassermann Literature Prize, 2008
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