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Erich Maria Remarque BiographyGerman Novelist famous for All Quiet on the Western Front
Life and works of German author Erich Maria Remarque, best known for antiwar novels.
German writer Erich Maria Remarque is best known for his antiwar novel set during World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front. His other novels, including The Road Back and Flotsam, also treat the themes of war and postwar adjustment. Early Life of Erich M. RemarqueBorn on June 22, 1898 in the northwest German city of Osnabruck, Erich Paul Remark had French ancestors. He studied at the University of Münster but at the age of 18 he had to enlist in the German Army. During World War I he fought on the Western Front and was wounded on several occasions. After the war, he changed his name to Erich Maria Remarque and began to write his first novel. He also worked at various times as a teacher, racing driver and sportswriter. The Writer and Antiwar ThemeAll Quiet on the Western Front (Im Westen nichts Neues) was published when Remarque was 31 years old. Based on his own wartime experiences, it tells his perspective and in a matter-of-fact way the horrors and cruelty of a soldier's daily life in the trenches, where shells and machine guns killed millions of people, describing man's inhumanity to man. No other book had given such realistic yet pitying account of the terrible conflict caused by war. At 33 Remarque had a sequel, The Road Back. This sequel deals with the collapse of the German Army after World War I. Germany's new Nazi government declared his novels unpatriotic and accused Remarque of pacifism. He was declared no longer a German citizen, and stores were ordered to ban his books. Later Life in Switzerland and United StatesHe felt forced to leave Germany. Remarque lived in Switzerland from 1931, and in 1939 he emigrated to the US with his first wife, Ilsa Jeanne Zamboui (later divorced), and they became naturalized citizens in 1947. The following year he went back to Switzerland, where he spent the rest of his life. He later married the Hollywood actress Paulette Goddard in 1958 and they remained married until his death in Locarno, Switzerland on September 25, 1970. Works by Erich Maria Remarque
Sources:Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002 Dictionary of Writers, edited by Rosemary Goring, Larousse, 1994
The copyright of the article Erich Maria Remarque Biography in Great Writers is owned by Tel Asiado. Permission to republish Erich Maria Remarque Biography in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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