ERICH MARIA REMARQUE
Erich Maria Remarque
Born June 22, 1898
Osnabrack, Germany
Died September 25, 1970 (aged 72)
Locarno, Switzerland
Occupation Novelist
Nationality German
Erich Maria Remarque (June 22, 1898 – September 25, 1970) was the pseudonym of
Erich Paul Remark, a German author.
Erich Paul Remark was born in Osnabrück into a working-class Roman Catholic
family. He was conscripted into the army at the age of 18.
On 12 June, 1917 he was transferred to the Western Front, 2nd Company, Reserves,
Field Depot of the 2nd Reserves Guards Division at Hem-Lenglet. On 26 June, he
was stationed between Thorhut and Houthulst, Trench Battalion Bethe (Name of
commander), 2nd Company of the 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment. On 31 July he was
wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, right arm and neck, and repatriated to an
army hospital in Germany, where he spent the rest of the war.
After the war he changed his last name to Remarque, which had been the family-name
until his grandfather changed it due to 19th Century German xenophobia. He
worked at a number of different jobs, including librarian, businessman, teacher,
journalist and editor.
In 1929, Remarque published his most famous work, All Quiet on the Western Front
(Im Westen nichts Neues) under the name Erich Maria Remarque (changing his
middle name in honor of his mother). The novel described the utter cruelty of
the war from the perspective of a twenty year-old soldier. A number of similar
works followed; in simple, emotive language they described wartime and the
postwar years.
In 1933, the Nazis banned and burned Remarque's works, and issued propaganda
stating that he was a descendant of French Jews and that his real last name was
Kramer, a Jewish-sounding name, and his original name spelled backwards. This is
still listed in some biographies despite the complete lack of proof. Also
despite clear evidence to the contrary, their assertion that he had never seen
active service remains in some references.
Remarque had been living in Switzerland since 1931, and in 1939 he emigrated to
the United States of America with his first wife, Ilsa Jeanne Zamboui, whom he
married and divorced twice, and they became naturalized citizens of the United
States in 1947. In 1948 he went to Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his
life. He married the Hollywood actress Paulette Goddard in 1958 and they
remained married until his death in 1970 at age 72. He is interred in the Ronco
cemetery in Ronco, Ticino, Switzerland, where Goddard is also interred. Goddard
left a bequest of $20 million to New York University to fund an institute for
European study which is named after Remarque. The first Director of The Remarque
Institute was Professor Tony Judt.
Erich Maria Remarque
Born June 22, 1898
Osnabrack, Germany
Died September 25, 1970 (aged 72)
Locarno, Switzerland
Occupation Novelist
Nationality German
Erich Maria Remarque (June 22, 1898 – September 25, 1970) was the pseudonym of
Erich Paul Remark, a German author.
Erich Paul Remark was born in Osnabrück into a working-class Roman Catholic
family. He was conscripted into the army at the age of 18.
On 12 June, 1917 he was transferred to the Western Front, 2nd Company, Reserves,
Field Depot of the 2nd Reserves Guards Division at Hem-Lenglet. On 26 June, he
was stationed between Thorhut and Houthulst, Trench Battalion Bethe (Name of
commander), 2nd Company of the 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment. On 31 July he was
wounded by shrapnel in the left leg, right arm and neck, and repatriated to an
army hospital in Germany, where he spent the rest of the war.
After the war he changed his last name to Remarque, which had been the family-name
until his grandfather changed it due to 19th Century German xenophobia. He
worked at a number of different jobs, including librarian, businessman, teacher,
journalist and editor.
In 1929, Remarque published his most famous work, All Quiet on the Western Front
(Im Westen nichts Neues) under the name Erich Maria Remarque (changing his
middle name in honor of his mother). The novel described the utter cruelty of
the war from the perspective of a twenty year-old soldier. A number of similar
works followed; in simple, emotive language they described wartime and the
postwar years.
In 1933, the Nazis banned and burned Remarque's works, and issued propaganda
stating that he was a descendant of French Jews and that his real last name was
Kramer, a Jewish-sounding name, and his original name spelled backwards. This is
still listed in some biographies despite the complete lack of proof. Also
despite clear evidence to the contrary, their assertion that he had never seen
active service remains in some references.
Remarque had been living in Switzerland since 1931, and in 1939 he emigrated to
the United States of America with his first wife, Ilsa Jeanne Zamboui, whom he
married and divorced twice, and they became naturalized citizens of the United
States in 1947. In 1948 he went to Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his
life. He married the Hollywood actress Paulette Goddard in 1958 and they
remained married until his death in 1970 at age 72. He is interred in the Ronco
cemetery in Ronco, Ticino, Switzerland, where Goddard is also interred. Goddard
left a bequest of $20 million to New York University to fund an institute for
European study which is named after Remarque. The first Director of The Remarque
Institute was Professor Tony Judt.