Robert von Dassanowsky
Encyclopedia
Robert von Dassanowsky FRHistS, FRSA (b. January 28, 1960, New York City
) is an Austrian-American
academic, writer, film and cultural historian, and producer. He is usually known as Robert Dassanowsky.
and a graduate of UCLA
, where he has also served as Visiting Professor of German, Dassanowsky is a widely published academican, award-winning playwright
and has written for television.
Since 1993, he has been Professor of German
and Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
and has become particularly known for his influential scholarly work on author
Alexander Lernet-Holenia
, German filmmaker and photographer Leni Riefenstahl
, and on Austria
n and Central European film
.
Dassanowsky served as founding president of the Colorado chapter of PEN
and is a founding Vice President of the Austrian American Film Association (AAFA). Additionally, he is the Contributing Editor of the Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, a Contributing Advisor to the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, contributor to The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Cultures, and is author of Austrian Cinema: A History (2005), the first English language survey of this national cinema
. Among his other publications is a collection of essays on New Austrian Film edited with Oliver C. Speck (2011), edited collections on Hugo von Hofmannsthal
's play Der Schwierige (Iudicium 2011), Quentin Tarantino
's Inglourious Basterds (Continuum
2012), and on World Film Locations: Vienna (Intellect
2012). He also serves on the editorial boards of literary publications in the U.S.
, Canada
and Austria
. Dassanowsky's Telegrams from the Metropole: Selected Poems 1980-1998 received a Pushcart Prize
nomination in 2000. His poetry book, Soft Mayhem, was published in 2010 (Poetry Salzburg
).
, he is also active as an independent producer and head of the Los Angeles/Vienna based Belvedere Film production company. His recent projects include the documentary Felix Austria! aka The Archduke and Herbert Hinkel (2011), the short The Retreat (2010), the feature film Wilson Chance (2005), the animated short The Nightmare Stumbles Past (2003), and the award-winning
Semmelweis (2001). In 2007, British tabloids briefly reported that he may have been involved with a Heather Mills biopic project on her life with Paul McCartney
, but Dassanowsky has not commented. He is currently (2010-11) co-producing Never Kissed by the Queen: The Black Countess from Bain Street, a documentary feature on the marriage of Martha Solomons, the daughter of a freed slave and Harry, The 8th Earl of Stamford
written and co-directed by South African filmmaker Maggie Follett for 2011 release.
and the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George (Spanish branch). He was named the Carnegie Foundation
/CASE U.S. Professor of the Year for Colorado
in 2004, and decorated by the Austria
n president in 2005. Dassanowsky received the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2001 and the Chancellor's Award in 2006. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
in 2007
and of the Royal Society of Arts
in 2010. A member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
since 2001, he was appointed to serve as one of the three U.S. delegates to the Academy in 2009. He was elected Vice President of the Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Association (MALCA) in March 2011.
Since 2008, Dassanowsky has been the director of the Elfi von Dassanowsky Foundation
, established in memory of his mother.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) is an Austrian-American
Austrian-American
Austrian Americans are Americans of Austrian descent. According to the 2000 US census, there are 735,128, or 0.3% Americans of full or partial Austrian descent. The states with the largest Austrian American populations are New York , California , Pennsylvania , Florida and New Jersey...
academic, writer, film and cultural historian, and producer. He is usually known as Robert Dassanowsky.
Education/Academia
A student of the American Academy of Dramatic ArtsAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
and a graduate of UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, where he has also served as Visiting Professor of German, Dassanowsky is a widely published academican, award-winning playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and has written for television.
Since 1993, he has been Professor of German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs is a campus of the University of Colorado system, the state university system of Colorado....
and has become particularly known for his influential scholarly work on author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Alexander Lernet-Holenia
Alexander Lernet-Holenia
Alexander Lernet-Holenia was an Austrian poet, novelist, dramaturgist and writer of screenplays and historical studies who produced a heterogeneous literary opus that included poesy, psychological novels describing the intrusion of otherworldly or unreal experiences into reality, and recreational...
, German filmmaker and photographer Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
, and on Austria
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 and Central European film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
.
Dassanowsky served as founding president of the Colorado chapter of PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
and is a founding Vice President of the Austrian American Film Association (AAFA). Additionally, he is the Contributing Editor of the Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, a Contributing Advisor to the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, contributor to The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Cultures, and is author of Austrian Cinema: A History (2005), the first English language survey of this national cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. Among his other publications is a collection of essays on New Austrian Film edited with Oliver C. Speck (2011), edited collections on Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...
's play Der Schwierige (Iudicium 2011), Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's Inglourious Basterds (Continuum
Continuum International Publishing Group
The Continuum International Publishing Group is a publisher of books, with its editorial offices in London and New York City. It had been owned by Nova Capital Management since 2005...
2012), and on World Film Locations: Vienna (Intellect
Intellect
Intellect is a term used in studies of the human mind, and refers to the ability of the mind to come to correct conclusions about what is true or real, and about how to solve problems...
2012). He also serves on the editorial boards of literary publications in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Austria
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...
. Dassanowsky's Telegrams from the Metropole: Selected Poems 1980-1998 received a Pushcart Prize
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
nomination in 2000. His poetry book, Soft Mayhem, was published in 2010 (Poetry Salzburg
Poetry Salzburg Review
Poetry Salzburg Review is an English language, biannual literary magazine published by Poetry Salzburg at the University of Salzburg and edited by Wolfgang Görtschacher and Andreas Schachermayr. It is a successor to The Poet's Voice which was edited and published in Austria by British poets Fred...
).
Producer
The son of Austrian-American pioneering film studio founder and musician, Elfi von DassanowskyElfi von Dassanowsky
Elfriede "Elfi" von Dassanowsky was an Austrian-American singer, pianist, film producer and humanitarian.- Early life :...
, he is also active as an independent producer and head of the Los Angeles/Vienna based Belvedere Film production company. His recent projects include the documentary Felix Austria! aka The Archduke and Herbert Hinkel (2011), the short The Retreat (2010), the feature film Wilson Chance (2005), the animated short The Nightmare Stumbles Past (2003), and the award-winning
Semmelweis (2001). In 2007, British tabloids briefly reported that he may have been involved with a Heather Mills biopic project on her life with Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, but Dassanowsky has not commented. He is currently (2010-11) co-producing Never Kissed by the Queen: The Black Countess from Bain Street, a documentary feature on the marriage of Martha Solomons, the daughter of a freed slave and Harry, The 8th Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford
Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and younger brother of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk Earl...
written and co-directed by South African filmmaker Maggie Follett for 2011 release.
Affiliations/Awards
Dassanowsky is a member of Mensa (U.S.A.)Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test...
and the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George (Spanish branch). He was named the Carnegie Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding," is one of the oldest, largest and most influential of American foundations...
/CASE U.S. Professor of the Year for Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in 2004, and decorated by the Austria
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 president in 2005. Dassanowsky received the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2001 and the Chancellor's Award in 2006. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society was founded in 1868. The premier society in the United Kingdom which promotes and defends the scholarly study of the past, it is based at University College London...
in 2007
and of the Royal Society of Arts
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
in 2010. A member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
European Academy of Sciences and Arts
The European Academy of Sciences and Arts was created in 1990 in Salzburg, Austria by heart surgeon Felix Unger of Salzburg; the cardinal archbishop of Vienna, Franz König; and the political scientist and philosopher Nikolaus Lobkowicz....
since 2001, he was appointed to serve as one of the three U.S. delegates to the Academy in 2009. He was elected Vice President of the Modern Austrian Literature and Culture Association (MALCA) in March 2011.
Since 2008, Dassanowsky has been the director of the Elfi von Dassanowsky Foundation
Elfi von Dassanowsky
Elfriede "Elfi" von Dassanowsky was an Austrian-American singer, pianist, film producer and humanitarian.- Early life :...
, established in memory of his mother.