Consul General Drautz visits Feuchtwanger Memorial Library at USC
-
- Enlarge image
- From left: Villa Aurora Director, Imogen von Tannenberg, Feuchtwanger Memorial Library Curator, Michaela Ullmann, Consul General Drautz and USC Libraries Senior Associate Dean Marje Schuetze-Coburn.
- (© Consulate General Los Angeles)
To gain knowledge of the impressive Lion Feuchtwanger collection in Los Angeles, Consul General Wolfgang Drautz visited the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library at the University of Southern California on Tuesday, February 2, 2010.
Lion Feuchtwanger (1884-1958), the legendary German-Jewish emigre writer, had been a distinguished member of the post-World War I literary scene in Germany. After fleeing Europe during World War II, he lived and wrote in political exile for the last quarter-century of his life.
Settling In Los Angeles in 1941, he and his wife, Marta, bought Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades in 1943. Here Feuchtwanger would continue to write until his death in 1958.
After his death, Marta stayed in their hillside house overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and remained an important figure in the exile community. She devoted the remainder of her life to promoting the work of her husband. Before her death in 1987, Marta donated her husband's papers, photos and personal library to the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library at USC.
-
- Enlarge image
- Consul General Drautz views Lion Feuchtwanger collection at USC.
- (© Consulate General Los Angeles)
The voluminous archive includes Feuchtwanger's personal and business correspondence, multiple versions of his writings, reviews of his works, photographs and other personal artifacts. In addition, the archive contains the correspondence of Marta Feuchtwanger, who survived her husband by almost 30 years, as well as correspondence and manuscript material from fellow exiles Hanns Eisler, Heinrich Mann and Ludwig Marcuse.
As a lover of books who was interested in the history of printing, Lion Feuchtwanger enjoyed collecting early printed books. In all, the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library contains nearly 30,000 volumes. Some 8,000 of the rarest books are housed on the USC campus, while 20,000 volumes remain on long-term loan at the Feuchtwanger's former residence, Villa Aurora.
Today, Villa Aurora continues the tradition as an international meeting place for intellectuals and artists. With help from the German Foreign Office, the Villa Aurora's artists-in-residence program and the Feuchtwanger Fellowship are the core of its activities in fostering German-American exchange in literature, art, culture, science and politics.
The Feuchtwanger Memorial Library is part of Special Collections in the Doheny Memorial Library at the University of Southern California.
Related Links:
