Wechsberg, Joseph, 1907-1983

Author, lawyer, and musician. Died 1983.

From the description of Papers of Joseph Wechsberg, 1943-1983 (bulk 1964-1979). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71069069

Epithet: writer

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000210.0x000222

Biographical Note

• 1907, Aug. 29: Born, Mährisch-Ostrau, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Ostrava, Czech Republic)
• 1925 - 1930 : Attended Prague University Law School, Prague, Czechoslovakia; Hochschule für Welthandel and Vienna State Academy of Music, Vienna, Austria; and the Sorbonne, Paris, France
• 1926 - 1929 : Worked intermittently as violinist and orchestra leader in Paris nightclubs and on French ocean liners
• 1929 - 1930 : Attended officers' candidate school, Czechoslovak army
• 1930: Received law degree, Prague University Law School, Prague, Czechoslovakia
• 1930 - 1937 : Apprenticed at law firms in Ostrava and Prague, Czechoslovakia, and wrote articles for various German-language newspapers
• 1934: Married Jo-Ann Novak
• 1938: Lieutenant, Czechoslovak army, commanding machine gun company on Polish frontier Sent to United States by Czechoslovak government as secretary of parliamentary commission to discuss Sudeten crisis Requested asylum following German occupation of Sudetenland Became free-lance journalist, writing in English
• 1943: Contributor, The New Yorker magazine
• 1944: Became United States citizen
• 1944 - 1945 : Technical sergeant, psychological warfare division, United States army
• 1948: Staff member, The New Yorker magazine
• 1949: European correspondent, The New Yorker magazine
• 1953: Published Blue Trout and Black Truffles. New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf
• 1955: Published The Self-Betrayed. New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf
• 1961: Published Red Plush and Black Velvet. Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown & Co.
• 1966: Published The Merchant Bankers. Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown & Co.
• 1968: Published Vienna, My Vienna. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan
• 1969: Published The Voices. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday
• 1970: Published Prague, The Mystical City. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan
• 1972: Published The Opera. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Published The Glory of the Violin. New York, N.Y.: Viking Press
• 1973: Published The Waltz Emperors. New York, N.Y.: Putnam
• 1974: Published Verdi. New York, N.Y.: Putnam
• 1976, May 21: Awarded Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst, 1. Klasse, Republic of Austria
• 1977: Published Schubert: His Life, His Work, His Time. New York, N.Y.: Rizzoli
• 1979: Published The Vienna I Knew. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday
• 1983, Apr. 10: Died, Vienna, Austria

From the guide to the Joseph Wechsberg Papers, 1943-1983, (bulk 1964-1979), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)