For the author Ludwig Hohl, breakthrough and honors came late
Published: Thursday, Nov 16th 2023, 11:20
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Ludwig Hohl was born on April 9, 1904 in Netstal in the canton of Glarus to a family of pastors. He attended primary school in Sirnach in Thurgau and secondary school in Frauenfeld, which he dropped out of shortly before graduating.
After briefly attending a commercial school in Zurich, he set off for Paris in October 1924 with a childhood friend, where he lived in rather precarious circumstances. From 1931 onwards, he lived briefly in Vienna and then The Hague. He returned to Switzerland in 1937 and settled in Geneva. Here he worked and lived from 1954 to 1975 in the legendary cellar apartment in the Jonction quarter.
Ludwig Hohl was married five times, including to the artist Hanny Fries. His intensive literary work went unnoticed for a long time. Although he published books at irregular intervals, his breakthrough only came around 1970. He came to the attention of Suhrkamp publisher Siegfried Unseld, who began publishing his books.
Hohl received the one-time Robert Walser Centenary Prize for his work in 1978 and the Petrarca Prize in 1980. Ludwig Hohl died in Geneva on November 3, 1980 after a long illness. He was buried in the Cimetière des Rois (Plainpalais).
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