Award-winning Swiss author and scholar Peter von Matt dies aged 87

German author Peter von Matt dies aged 87 Keystone-SDA

Swiss writer and former professor of German literature Peter von Matt died on Monday in Zurich at the age of 87, following a long illness. Von Matt’s family informed the German press agency dpa of the news on Tuesday.

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Peter von Matt was born in Lucerne and grew up in Stans in the canton of Nidwalden. He was a professor of modern German literature at the University of Zurich for over two decades.

Von Matt was known primarily for his books on literature, which received numerous awards. He received the Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt, the Heinrich Mann Prize, and the Swiss Literature Prize. The late literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki once called von Matt the “best writer in German-speaking Switzerland.”

In his essays, von Matt commented not only on literature but also on social and political issues. As a result, his books have reached audiences beyond academic circles.

“I don’t see why literature shouldn’t be involved in politics, as an opportunity for reflection and the exchange of ideas,” von Matt said in an interview with Keystone-ATS on the occasion of his 85th birthday. He added: “It is the role of the citizens of Switzerland to draw attention to things that are politically unbearable.”

He wrote two collections of essays in this vein: Die tintenblauen Eidgenossen. Über die literarische und politische Schweiz (In English: The Ink-blue Swiss. About Swiss Literature and Poilics), in 2001, and Das Kalb von der Gotthardpost. Zur Litteratur und Politik der Schweiz (translated as The calf in front of the Gotthard post. About Swiss literature and politics), in 2012.

In his more specialised books, the professor of modern German literature often evoked pearls of world literature from unusual angles. He also devoted a book to “family mistakes” in literature, and another to “kissing”.

His most recent book, Übeltäter, trockne Schleicher, Lichtgestalten: Die Möglichkeiten der Literatur (Evildoers, Dry Sneaks, Shining Lights: The Possibilities of Literature), was published in 2023.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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