Paul Celan

Paul Celan was the most frequently used pseudonym of Paul Antschel (the pseudonym adopts an anagram of his surname in Romanian, Ancel) (November 23, 1920 – approximately April 20, 1970), who is considered one of the few major poets of the post-World War II era. He was born in Romania, lived in Austria and later in France, and wrote in German. In additional to the composition of his poetry, he was an extremely active translator, translating literature from Romanian, French, Portuguese, Russian, and English into German.

Exodus

As Romanian autonomy crumbled in the course of that year, Paul fled Romania for Vienna, Austria. It was there that he befriended Ingeborg Bachmann, who had just completed a dissertation on Martin Heidegger. Facing a city divided between occupying powers and littling resembled the mythic city of an Austro-Hungarian Jewish community shattered by Kristallnacht, he moved to Paris in 1948, where he found a publisher for his first poetry collection, Der Sand aus den Urnen (Sand from the Urns). In November 1951, he met the graphic artist Gisèle Lestrange, in Paris. They married on December 21st, 1952 despite the opposition of her aristocratic family and during the following 19 years they wrote over 700 letters. He made his living as a translator and lecturer in German at the École Normale Supérieure. Celan became a French citizen in 1955 and lived in Paris until his death by suicide, drowning in the Seine on or about April 20, 1970.

Related Topics:
Vienna - Austria - Ingeborg Bachmann - Martin Heidegger - Kristallnacht - Paris - 1948 - Poetry - Der Sand aus den Urnen - November - 1951 - Graphic artist - Gisèle Lestrange - December 21 - 1952 - École Normale Supérieure - 1955 - Suicide - Seine - April 20 - 1970

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