(
The Father of a Murderer)
was Alfred Andersch’s last major work, written in 1979 and published in 1980, the year of the author’s death. Its German subtitle,
Eine Schulgeschichte(A School History), was removed from the English translation by Leila Vennewitz. The novella is semi-autobiographical and takes place during a single Greek lesson at the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium in May 1928. By Andersch’s own admission, the protagonist, Franz Kien, represents his “other self”, a means of allowing the author to distance himself from the events in order to convey the essence, if not the literal facts, of what transpired that day.
The titular “father of a murderer” is Gebhard Himmler, the school’s headmaster and father of the notorious Nazi leader, Heinrich
623 words
Citation: Horton, Aaron. "Der Vater eines Mörders". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 March 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35545, accessed 23 November 2024.]
