Manès Sperber
Encyclopedia
Manès Sperber was an Austria
n-French
novelist, essayist and psychologist
. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Jan Heger and N.A. Menlos.
Sperber grew up in the shtetl
of Zabłotów in a Hasidic family. In the summer of 1916 the family fled from war to Vienna
, where Sperber, who, having lost faith, at 13 had refused to do his bar mitzvah, joined the Jewish Hashomer Hatzair
youth movement. There he met Alfred Adler
, the founder of individual psychology
, and became a student and co-worker. Adler broke with him in 1932 because of differences in opinion about the connection of individual psychology and marxism
.
In 1927 Sperber had moved to Berlin
and joined the Communist party. He lectured at the Berliner Gesellschaft für Individualpsychologie, an institute for individual psychology in Berlin. After Hitler had taken power
Sperber was taken to jail, but was released after a few weeks on the grounds that he was, at that time, a Polish citizen. He emigrated first to Yugoslavia and then in 1934 to Paris where he worked for the communist internationale with Willi Münzenberg
. In 1938 he left the party because of the stalinist cleansing
within the party. In his writing he started to deal with totalitarianism
and the role of the individual within society (Zur Analyse der Tyrannis).
In 1939 Sperber voluteered for the French army. After the defeat, he took refuge in Cagnes, in the so-called "zone libre" (free zone) of France, and had to flee with his family to Switzerland in 1942, when the deportation of Jews started in that zone too. After the end of the war, in 1945, he returned to Paris
, and worked as a writer and as a senior editor at the Calmann-Lévy publishing house.
Manès Sperber is the author of a novel trilogy: Like a Tear in the Ocean: A Trilogy, (1949–1955), of an autobiographical trilogy: All our Yesterdays (1974–1997), and numerous essays on philosophy, politics, literature, and psychology.
Manès Sperber is the father of Italian historian Vladimir Sperber and French anthropologist and cognitive scientist Dan Sperber
. His first wife, Miriam Sperber, eventually emigrated to Champaign, Illinois, and became a counselor at the Psychological and Counseling Center there.
His brother Milo
was an actor, and spent the last years of his life traveling around Britain reading from his brother's works.
Manès Sperber was buried in the Montparnasse
cemetery in Paris, France.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
novelist, essayist and psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Jan Heger and N.A. Menlos.
Sperber grew up in the shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
of Zabłotów in a Hasidic family. In the summer of 1916 the family fled from war to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where Sperber, who, having lost faith, at 13 had refused to do his bar mitzvah, joined the Jewish Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
youth movement. There he met Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. In collaboration with Sigmund Freud and a small group of Freud's colleagues, Adler was among the co-founders of the psychoanalytic movement as a core member of the Vienna...
, the founder of individual psychology
Individual psychology
Individual psychology is a term used specifically to refer to the psychological method or science founded by the Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler...
, and became a student and co-worker. Adler broke with him in 1932 because of differences in opinion about the connection of individual psychology and marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
.
In 1927 Sperber had moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and joined the Communist party. He lectured at the Berliner Gesellschaft für Individualpsychologie, an institute for individual psychology in Berlin. After Hitler had taken power
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
Sperber was taken to jail, but was released after a few weeks on the grounds that he was, at that time, a Polish citizen. He emigrated first to Yugoslavia and then in 1934 to Paris where he worked for the communist internationale with Willi Münzenberg
Willi Münzenberg
Willi Münzenberg was a communist political activist. Münzenberg was the first head of the Young Communist International in 1919-20 and established the famine-relief and propaganda organization Workers International Relief in 1921...
. In 1938 he left the party because of the stalinist cleansing
Cleansing
Cleansing may refer to:* Cleansing - by Prong* Ethnic cleansing* Cleanliness* Body cleansing or detoxification - disputed alternative medical practice**Colon cleansing...
within the party. In his writing he started to deal with totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
and the role of the individual within society (Zur Analyse der Tyrannis).
In 1939 Sperber voluteered for the French army. After the defeat, he took refuge in Cagnes, in the so-called "zone libre" (free zone) of France, and had to flee with his family to Switzerland in 1942, when the deportation of Jews started in that zone too. After the end of the war, in 1945, he returned to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and worked as a writer and as a senior editor at the Calmann-Lévy publishing house.
Manès Sperber is the author of a novel trilogy: Like a Tear in the Ocean: A Trilogy, (1949–1955), of an autobiographical trilogy: All our Yesterdays (1974–1997), and numerous essays on philosophy, politics, literature, and psychology.
Manès Sperber is the father of Italian historian Vladimir Sperber and French anthropologist and cognitive scientist Dan Sperber
Dan Sperber
Dan Sperber is a French social and cognitive scientist. His most influential work has been in the fields of cognitive anthropology and linguistic pragmatics: developing, with British psychologist Deirdre Wilson, relevance theory in the latter; and an approach to cultural evolution known as the...
. His first wife, Miriam Sperber, eventually emigrated to Champaign, Illinois, and became a counselor at the Psychological and Counseling Center there.
His brother Milo
Milo Sperber
Milo Sperber was a Polish-born English actor.Sperber trained as a lawyer in Vienna before joining a local drama school; in 1939 he fled Germany, and the Nazis, landing in England. Early in World War II, he joined the Oxford Pilgrim Players; he gained experience directing the company on tour in...
was an actor, and spent the last years of his life traveling around Britain reading from his brother's works.
Manès Sperber was buried in the Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
cemetery in Paris, France.
Works
- Charlatan und seine Zeit (1924, ver. 2004)
- Alfred Adler (1926)
- Zur Analyse der Tyrannis (1939)
- Like a Tear in the Ocean: A Trilogy (1961)
- Volume 1 - Burned Bramble (1949)
- Volume 2 - The Abyss (1950)
- Volume 3 - Journey Without End (1955)
- Die Achillesferse (1960)
- Zur täglichen Weltgeschichte (1967)
- Alfred Adler oder Das Elend der Psychologie (1970)
- Leben in dieser Zeit (1972)
- Wir und Dostojewski: eine Debatte mit Heinrich Böll u.a. geführt von Manès Sperber (1972)
- All Our Yesterdays (3 Volumes)
- Volume 1 - God's Water Carriers(1974)
- Volume 2 - The Unheeded Warning: 1918-1933(1975)
- Volume 3 - Until My Eyes Are Closed With Shards(1977)
- Individuum und Gemeinschaft (1978)
- Sieben Fragen zur Gewalt (1978)
- Churban oder Die unfaßbare Gewißheit (1979)
- Der freie Mensch (1980)
- Nur eine Brücke zwischen gestern und morgen (1980)
- Die Wirklichkeit in der Literatur des 20. Jahrhunderts (1983)
- Ein politisches Leben - Gespräche mit Leonhard Reinisch (1984)
- Geteilte Einsamkeit - Der Autor und seine Leser (1985) (Essay)
- Der schwarze Zaun (1986) (Fragments of a novel)
Prizes
- Großer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen KünsteGroßer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen KünsteGroßer Literaturpreis der Bayerischen Akademie der Schönen Künste is a Bavarian literary prize.- Winners :*1950 Friedrich Georg Jünger*1951 Günter Eich*1953 Marieluise Fleißer*1955 Gerd Gaiser und Martha Saalfeld*1957 Alfred Döblin*1959 Agnes Miegel...
(1971) - Georg-Büchner-Prize (1975)
- Franz-Nabl-Prize (1977)
- Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis für Literatur (1977)
- Buber-Rosenzweig-MedalBuber-Rosenzweig-MedalThe Buber-Rosenzweig-Medaille is an annual prize awarded since 1968 by the Deutscher Koordinierungsrat der Gesellschaften für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit...
(1979) - Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels (1983)