Max Tau

Max Tau was a German-Norwegian writer, editor, and publisher.

Tau grew up in an environment characterized by what he later termed the "Jewish-German" symbiosis, in a Jewish household heavily influenced by the Jewish enlightenment. He studied literature, art history, philosophy, and psychology at universities in Berlin, Hamburg, and Kiel. He earned his doctorate at the University of Kiel, defending a dissertation on the German writer Theodor Fontane. Tau emigrated to Norway and during the Nazi-German occupation of Norway, he was a refugee in Sweden and returned to Norway after the war. He was noted for his contribution to promoting literary exchange between Germany and Norway, especially in the context of reconciliation after World War II.

• 1950 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
• 1965 Nelly Sachs Prize
• 1970 Sonning Prize