Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Hofmannsthal Hugo von)

(1874-1929)
Born on February 1 in Vienna. He studied law at Vienna University. Participated in the First World War, while maintaining confidence in its negative character for Austria. In July 1929 Hofmannsthal's eldest son committed suicide a few days later, July 15, 1929, died and he.
Hofmannsthal striking writers reached early adulthood and has a twenty-five years was the acknowledged master. His first experiments were marked by dramatic versatility, depth and plasticity of expression. Gravitating to the symbolism, they stood out sharply against the ruling at the time of the naturalistic theater. From the early plays the most significant death of Titian (Der Tod des Tizian, 1892), Alcestis (Alkestis, 1895), Falunsky mine (Das Bergwerk von Falun, 1899)

. Play Elektra (Elektra, . 1903) was used by Richard Strauss as the libretto for the opera of the same name (1906); collaboration with Strauss led to the creation of operas Rosenkavalier (Rosenkavalier, . 1911), . Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne auf Naxos, . 1912), . Die Frau ohne Schatten (Die Frau ohne Schatten, . 1919), . Arabella (Arabella, . 1933),
.

Post-war changes were seen Hofmannsthal as a serious threat to European cultural heritage. In an effort to resist it, he, together with M. Reinhardt founded the annual Salzburg Festival. Top drama Hofmannsthal - Plays Tower (Der Turm, 1923; new edition 1927). Creativity Hofmannsthal, literary critic, translator, author of comedies (including difficult character - Der Schwierige, 1921), is exceptionally versatility. Correspondence with Richard Strauss published in 1926.