Hans Werner Sokop

Hans Werner Sokop was born in Vienna on 13 January 1942, the second child of Johann Sokop (1902–1981), a master typewriter mechanic, and Helene, née Parrer (1901–1998), a seamstress. From 1945 to 1950, the family lived in Hallstatt, then in Vienna. From 1952 to 1960, he attended the secondary school in Diefenbachgasse. After passing his school-leaving examination with distinction, he entered the administrative service of the City of Vienna and at the same time began studying law at the University of Vienna. After obtaining his doctorate in law in 1964, he remained in the municipal service and from 1967 worked in Municipal Department 62, which was responsible for elections and various legal matters and of which he was head from 1985 until his retirement in 2002. Hans Werner Sokop is married to the writer Brigitte Sokop, née Nagel (Jene Gräfin Larisch, Stammtafeln europäischer Herrscherhäuser). His son Christian (born 1971) is a painter, author and musician. Together with him, he published two volumes of Viennese and English poems. His first German poems in the 1960s were characterized by formal rigour. From 1970, he also turned to the Viennese dialect. In addition to numerous volumes of poetry, a Viennese rhyming chronicle 1000 Years of Austria with two-liners for each year was published in 1996, followed by the antique addition Caesar schau oba and Das war alles, was geschah. He translated Wilhelm Busch classics into Viennese (e.g. Max and Moritz, Plisch and Plum, Die fromme Helene) as well as Der Weaner Struwwepeter, Der klane Prinz, Oh, wie schee is Panama and Der Alice ihre Obmteier im Wunderlaund. With his Schönbrunner Spaziergang and his St. Marxer Spaziergang with numerous photos and short poems, Sokop shows his love for Vienna; two island books (Einmal Korsika and Immer wieder nach Brioni) are written in sonnet form. Sokop is also a master of linguistic games, e. g. in the form of shake rhymes and limericks or as acrostics and elegiac distiches. The Japanese style of haiku, often combined with photographs, is one of his interests. He was an enthusiastic participant in the legendary Profilspiel, in good company with Martin Flossmann, Fritz Eckhardt, Hans Weigel, Ernst Stankovski and Herbert Prikopa. Trips to Florence and Rome furthered his interest in Italian culture. In 1975, this also led him to Dante Alighieri, whose Divine Comedy he retranslated while retaining the terza rima form, which was praised by Hans Weigel in the foreword. It was published in 1983 as a four-volume cassette. To mark the 750th birthday of Italy's greatest poet, a new edition of the translation was published in 2014 with color illustrations by Fritz Karl Wachtmann, again while retaining Dante's tercines (rhyme scheme ABA BCB CDC DED): Ich stand in unsres Erdendaseins Mitte verirrt in einem dunklen Wald alleine; kein rechter Weg mehr bot sich meinem Schritte. Das Reden fällt mir schwer, und ich vermeine, dass jenes wilden Waldes Dornendichte auch künftig mir als Schreckensbild erscheine: gleich bitter wie der Tod. — Doch ich berichte des Guten wegen, das ich aufgenommen, von anderem, erschienen dem Gesichte. This text was the basis for a production by the Odysseetheater in 2018. Further translations of Italian poems from Dante to Carducci and Jenco followed. With his 36 Dante anecdotes and two songs in Viennese, Sokop presented an additional, cheerful and contemplative approach to the great Florentine: Hob Ritter gsegn, wauns ausm Loger ruckn, wüd vierebreschn, schwanzln zu Paradn, in Schwaf eiziagn, waun sa si verdruckn … Durch eicher Laund sans gjappet, de Brigadn, es Aretiner, so wia hinter Hosn. Turniere hob i gsegn und Kavalkadn mit Gleckerln oder aa Tompetnblosn, mit Turmsignale oder Trommelschlogn, und wos s’ aun Zeichn sunst no steign lossn. No nie hob i noch so an Urklaungbogn des Fuaßvoik ziagn gsegn oder aa de Reiter, ka Schiff daunk Stern und Leichtturm durch de Wogn. Mit zehn so Teifen plogn ma uns do weiter. A feine Rass! — In Kirchn si net rihrn, im Wirtshaus oba mit de Bsoffnan heiter … On a trip with the Società Dante Alighieri, he met Conte Pieralvise Serego-Alighieri, a 21st generation descendant who runs a winery in Valpolicella that had already been acquired by Dante's son Pietro. He was given a special honor in 2000 when he was allowed to present his translation of the Divine Comedy as part of the Dante events of the city of Ravenna. As a passionate admirer of Dante, Sokop has also collected everything related to Dante's life and work, which over time has resulted in a small Dante museum. In 1990 he presented part of this collection under the title Dante live in Vienna at the Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum. With his video Dante im Amt, Sokop opened up access to Dante for people interested in promoting culture. His favorite vacation island since 1986, the Brijuni National Park in Istria, led to several books and illustrated books with poems and haikus. On this largely untouched island with limited tourism, there are remains of non-avian dinosaurs and traces of the Illyrians, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and ancient Austrians, which has provided material for several books. Sokop gives lectures, some with slides from his travels, and gives numerous readings, e. g. every year at the medieval festival in Eggenburg, Lower Austria. == Works ==