Widmann, Joseph Viktor

▪ Swiss author

born Feb. 20, 1842, Nennowitz, Moravia, Austrian Empire [now in Brno, Czech Republic]

died Nov. 6, 1911, Bern, Switz.

      Swiss writer, editor, and critic.

      Widmann settled in Switzerland early in life. As literary editor of the Bern daily newspaper Der Bund from 1880 to 1910, he occupied an authoritative position in Swiss letters and promoted many talented writers. He was himself an accomplished though not a strikingly original writer, and he handled such classic forms as the short epic (“Buddha,” 1869), the idyll (“Mose und Zipora,” 1874), and iambic drama (Oenone, 1880) with charming ease. His travel books, notably Spaziergänge in den Alpen (1885; “Strolls in the Alps”), belong to the best of their kind; and his plays include Maikäferkomödie (1897; “May-bug's Comedy”), a pleasant and humorous allegory, and Der Heilige und die Tiere (1905; “The Saint and the Animals”), his profoundest work.

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