Claudio Magris

Claudio Magris (born April 10, 1939) is an Italian scholar, translator and writer.

Life and prizes

Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been a professor of modern German literature at the University of Trieste since 1978.

He is an essayist and columnist for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and for other European journals and newspapers.

His numerous studies have helped to promote an awareness in Italy of Central European culture and of the literature of the Habsburg myth.

Magris is a member of several European academies and served as senator in the Italian Senate from 1994 to 1996.

His first book on the Habsburg myth in modern Austrian literature rediscovered central European literature. His journalistic writings have been collected in Dietro le parole ("Behind Words", 1978) and Itaca e oltre ("Ithaca and Beyond", 1982). He has written essays on E.T.A. Hoffmann, Henrik Ibsen, Italo Svevo, Robert Musil, Hermann Hesse and Jorge Luis Borges. His novels and theatre productions, many translated into several languages, include Illazioni su una sciabola (1984), Danubio (1986), Stadelmann (1988), Un altro mare (1991), and Microcosmi (1997).

His breakthrough was Danubio (1986), which is a magnum opus. In this book (said by the author to be a "drowned novel"), Magris tracks the course of the Danube from its sources to the sea. The whole trip evolves into a colorful, rich canvas of the multicultural European history.

Decorations and awards

• 1980: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class
• 1987: Bagutta Prize for Danubio
• 1990: French Award for Best Foreign Book (essays) for Danubio
• 1992: Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• 1994: Gold Medal of Honour of the City of Vienna
• 1995: Honorary doctorate from the University of Klagenfurt
• 1997: Strega Prize for Microcosmi
• 2000: Würth Prize for European Literature
• 2001: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
• 2001: Erasmus Prize
• 2001: Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding (Grand Prize)
• 2001: Member of the Academy of Arts Berlin
• 2004: Prince of Asturias Award for Literature
• 2006: Austrian State Prize for European Literature
• 2007: Kythera Award
• 2008: Walter Hallstein Prize
• 2009: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
• 2009: Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon
• 2009: Prix Jean Monnet European Literature
• 2009: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain
• 2011: Honorary Doctorate of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)
• 2012: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
• 2012: Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2014: FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages
• 2016: Franz Kafka Prize

• "Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels 2009 a Claudio Magris" (in German). Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 

Works

• Illazioni su una sciabola (1984; translated as Inferences from a Sabre, ISBN 0-7486-6036-4),
• Danubio (1986; translated as Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea, ISBN 0-00-272074-4),
• Stadelmann (1988),
• Un altro mare (1991; translated as A Different Sea, ISBN 0-00-271339-X)
• Microcosmi (1997; translated as Microcosms, ISBN 1-86046-618-4).
• Alla cieca (2006; translated as Blindly, ISBN 978-0-670-06856-2).
• Non luogo a procedere (2015; ISBN 978-88-11-68917-1).