Born in
Fürth, Wassermann was the son of a shopkeeper and lost his mother at an early age. He showed literary interest early and published various pieces in small newspapers. Because his father was reluctant to support his literary ambitions, he began a short-lived
apprenticeship with a businessman in
Vienna after graduation. He completed his military service in
Würzburg. Afterward, he stayed in southern Germany and in
Zürich. In 1894, he moved to
Munich where he worked as a secretary and later as a
copy editor at the paper
Simplicissimus. Around this time he also became acquainted with other writers such as
Rainer Maria Rilke,
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and
Thomas Mann. In 1896, he released his first novel,
Melusine (his surname means "water-man" in German, while a "
Melusine" (or "Melusina") is a figure of European legends and folklore, a feminine spirit of fresh waters in sacred springs and rivers). From 1898 on he was a theater critic in
Vienna. In 1901, he married Julie Speyer, whom he divorced in 1915. Three years later, he married again and wedded Marta Karlweis. After 1906, he alternated between Vienna and
Altaussee in
Styria. In 1926, he was elected to the
Prussian Academy of Arts. He resigned in 1933, narrowly avoiding expulsion by the
Nazis. In the same year, his books were banned in Germany owing to his Jewish ancestry. He died on 1 January 1934 at his home in Altaussee of a heart attack. Wassermann's work includes poetry, essays, novels, and short stories. His most important works are considered the novel
The Maurizius Case (
Der Fall Maurizius, 1928) and the autobiography,
My Life as German and Jew (
Mein Weg als Deutscher und Jude, 1921), in which he discussed the tense relationship between his German and Jewish identities. == Works ==