Life and career

Mendelsohn was born on Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

. He graduated with a B. A. in Classics from the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

, which he attended from 1978 to 1982 as an Echols Scholar, and received his M. A. and Ph. D. in Classics from Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, where he was a Mellon Fellow in the Humanities.

Upon completing his Ph.D. in 1994, Mendelsohn began a career in journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 in New York City. His review-essays about books, films, theater and television appear frequently in "The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

" and The New York Review of Books

The New York Review of Books

The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...

. Between 2000 and 2002 he was the weekly book critic for New York Magazine, and his work has appeared as well in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

, The Paris Review, The New Republic

The New Republic

The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...

, and many other publications.

In 2005 Mendelsohn was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

 for a translation of Cavafy's "Unfinished" poems, with commentary. His other honors include the National Book Critics Circle Award

National Book Critics Circle Award

The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....

 for Excellence in Book Reviewing (2000) and the George Jean Nathan Prize for Drama Criticism (2002).

Mendelsohn's academic speciality is Greek (especially Euripidean) tragedy; he has also published scholarly articles about Roman poetry and Greek religion. From 1994 to 2002, he was a Lecturer in the Classics department at Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

. Currently, he holds the Charles Ranlett Flint Chair in Humanities at Bard College

Bard College

Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...

. In April 2008, he was the Richard Holbrooke Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in Berlin

American Academy in Berlin

The American Academy in Berlin is a research and cultural institution in Berlin whose stated mission is to foster a greater understanding and dialogue between the people of the United States and the people of Germany.The American Academy was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent...

, Germany. In the Spring of 2010, he was a Critic-in-Residence at the American Academy in Rome.

Mendelsohn is one of five siblings. His brothers include film director Eric Mendelsohn

Eric Mendelsohn

Eric Mendelsohn is an American film director and screenwriter. Two of his films have been screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes: Through an Open Window in 1992 and Judy Berlin in 1999., which won the Directing Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival...

 and photographer Matt Mendelsohn; his sister is journalist Jennifer Mendelsohn.

External links

• DanielMendelsohn.com
• New York Review of Books Archive: Mendelsohn Articles
• Chronogram Profile, August 2008
• Bibliography of Holocaust Literature
• Interview with Daniel Mendelsohn and Michael Chabon, Sept. 2007
• Audio Interview with Mendelsohn on Constantine Cavafy
• The Sigmund H. Danziger, Jr. Memorial Lecture in the Humanities
  The Sigmund H. Danziger, Jr. Memorial Lecture in the Humanities
  The Sigmund H. Danziger, Jr. Memorial Lecture in the Humanities is an annual honorary bestowed upon an “established scholar of classical literature, who has made substantial contributions to the critical analysis of classical literature, or has been exceptionally skilled at inspiring an...