Life

Peter von Matt grew up in Stans

Stans

Stans is the capital of the canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland.-History:Stans is one of the oldest settlements in the entire Nidwalden valley. The first traces of human settlement date to the 2nd Century BC...

 in the canton of Nidwalden

Nidwalden

Nidwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population is 40,287 of which 4,046 are foreigners. The capital is Stans.-History:...

. He studied Art History

History of art

The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...

 as well as German and English

English studies

English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...

 studies in Zürich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

 and received a doctorate with Emil Staiger on Franz Grillparzer

Franz Grillparzer

Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...

. In 1970, he received his post doctorate lecturing qualifications with a work on E. T. A. Hoffmann.

From 1976 to 2002, von Matt taught as the University of Zurich

University of Zurich

The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....

 as a Professor of Newer German Literature. He was a guest professor at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 in 1980 and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin

Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin

The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin in an interdisciplinary institute created 1981 in Berlin-Grunewald for studies in natural, social sciences for various research projects. It is a member of the group Some Institutes for Advanced Study....

 in 1992/93. Von Matt is a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung

Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung

The Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung was founded on August 28, 1949—the 200th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—in Paulskirche in Frankfurt...

, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

The Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften is the academy of sciences of the German states Berlin and Brandenburg. As the word "Wissenschaft", in German includes both the natural sciences and the humanities, the academy's title is best translated as Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of...

, and the Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of the Arts). He writes regular contributions for the Frankfuter Anthologie. He is married to literary critic Beatrice von Matt-Albrecht and lives with her in Dübendorf

Dübendorf

Dübendorf is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population of about 23,000 . It is the fourth largest city in the canton, after Zürich, Winterthur, and Uster.-History:Dübendorf is first mentioned in 946 as...

 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)
• ... 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

Awards

• 1991 Johann Heinrich Merck Prize for Literary Critque and Essay
• 1994 Johann Peter Hebel Prize
• 1995 Innerschweizer Kulturpreis (Innerswiss Culture Prize)
• 1997 Order of Pour le Mérite
  Pour le Mérite
  The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
  
   for Science and Art
• 1998 Prize of the Frankfurter Anthologie
  Frankfurter Anthologie
  Frankfurter Anthologie is a literary prize of Germany....
  
  
• 2000 Art Prize of the City of Zürich
• 2001 Friedrich Märker Prize for Essayists
• 2002 Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon (Lausanne)
• 2004 Deutscher Sprachpreis (German Language Prize)
• 2006 Heinrich Mann Prize
  Heinrich Mann Prize
  The Heinrich Mann Prize is a literary award given annually by the Berlin Academy of Art . The prize given for works with socially critical aspects in a character that would honor Heinrich Mann...
  
  
• 2007 Brother Grimm Prize of the University of Marburg

External links

• Literature by and on Peter von Matt in the Catalog of the German National Library
  German National Library
  The German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...
  
  
• Entry about Peter von Matt in the Writers Lexicon of the Association Authors of Switzerland (German)
• Peter von Matt: Literat(urprofessor) im (Un-) Ruhestand (Literature Professor not in Retirement) (German)