Peter von Matt

Peter von Matt (2008)

Peter von Matt (born 20 May 1937) is a Swiss philologist and author.

Life[]

Born in Lucerne, Peter von Matt grew up in Stans in the canton of Nidwalden. He studied Art History as well as German and English studies in Zurich and received a doctorate with Emil Staiger on Franz Grillparzer. In 1970, he received his post doctorate lecturing qualifications with a work on E. T. A. Hoffmann.

From 1976 to 2002, von Matt taught at the University of Zurich as a Professor of Newer German Literature. He was a guest professor at Stanford University in 1980 and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin in 1992/93. Von Matt is a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of the Arts). He writes regular contributions for the Frankfurter Anthologie. He is married to literary critic Beatrice von Matt-Albrecht and lives with her in Dübendorf near Zurich.

Works[]

• Der Grundriss von Grillparzers Bühnenkunst (The outline of Grillparzer's Pear Art), Zürich 1965 (Dissertation)
• Die Augen der Automaten. E.T.A. Hoffmanns Imaginationslehre als Prinzip seiner Erzählkunst (The Eye of the Machines. E. T. A. Hoffmann's Imagination Teaching as a Principle of his Narrative Art), Tübingen 1971 (Post Doctorate Work, Habilitation)
• ... fertig ist das Angesicht. Zur Literaturgeschichte des menschlichen Gesichts (...the Face is done. About the Literary History of the human Faces), München, Vienna 1983
• Liebesverrat – Die Treulosen in der Literatur (Romantic Treachery - The Faithless in Literatur), München 1989
• Das Schicksal der Phantasie. Studien zur deutschen Literatur (Fantasy's Fate. Studies about German Literature), München 1994
• Verkommene Söhne, mißratene Töchter. Familiendesaster in der Literatur (Deteriorated Sons, Ill-bred Daughters. Family Disasters in Literature), München 1995
• Die verdächtige Pracht. Über Dichtung und Gedichte (The suspicious Magnificence. About Poetry and Poems), München 1998
• Die tintenblauen Eidgenossen. Über die literarische und politische Schweiz (The Ink-blue Swiss. About Swiss Literature and Poilics), München 2001
• Öffentliche Verehrung der Luftgeister (Public Worship and Air Ghosts), München 2003
• Die Intrige. Theorie und Praxis der Hinterlist (The Intrigue. Theories and Practice of Trickery), München 2006
• Das Wilde und die Ordnung. Zur deutschen Literatur (The Wild and the Ordered. About German Literature), München 2007
• Der Entflammte. Über Elias Canetti (The Inflamed. About Elias Canetti), Zürich 2007
• Das Kalb vor der Gotthardpost. Zur Literatur und Politik der Schweiz. (The calf in front of the Gotthard post. About Swiss literature and politics), München 2012. Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.

Awards[]

• 1991: Johann Heinrich Merck Prize for Literary Critque and Essay
• 1994: Johann-Peter-Hebel-Preis
• 1995: (Innerswiss Culture Prize)
• 1997: Order of Pour le Mérite for Science and Art
• 1998: Prize of the Frankfurter Anthologie
• 2000: Art Prize of the City of Zurich
• 2001: for Essayists
• 2002: Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon (Lausanne)
• 2004: (German Language Prize)
• 2006: Heinrich Mann Prize
• 2007: Brothers Grimm Prize of the University of Marburg
• 2012: Swiss Book Prize for Das Kalb vor der Gotthardpost
• 2014: Goethe Prize

External links[]

• Publications by and about Peter von Matt in the catalogue Helveticat of the Swiss National Library
• Literature by and on Peter von Matt in the Catalog of the German National Library
• Entry about Peter von Matt in the Writers Lexicon of the Association (German)
• Peter von Matt: Literat(urprofessor) im (Un-) Ruhestand^{[permanent dead link]} (Literature Professor not in Retirement) (German)