Early life Marcel Reich was born on 2 June 1920 in
Włocławek,
Poland, to David Reich, a
Polish Jewish merchant, and his wife, Helene (née Auerbach) Reich, who came from a
German Jewish family (his cousin was the painter
Frank Auerbach). Reich and his family moved to
Berlin in 1929. Reich dedicated himself to the reading of German classics and practicing the theatre. The literary critic
Volker Weidermann wrote that "he found his salvation in literature". After being denied at the
University of Berlin, he was arrested and deported to Poland. In his 1999 autobiography,
The Author of Himself, Ranicki affirmed, "I had a ticket for [a] première that evening – I wouldn't be needing it." In November 1940, Reich and his parents found themselves in the
Warsaw Ghetto, during which time he worked for the
Judenrat as a chief translator, Ranicki himself married his wife Teofila, and in 1943, they escaped the Ghetto. In 1944, he joined the
Polish People's Army, and became an officer in
Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, the Soviet-controlled Polish secret police, known for using torture and human rights violations, where he worked in the censorship department. He joined the communist
Polish Workers' Party after the war. From 1948 to 1949, he was a Polish diplomat and intelligence worker (operating under the pseudonym "Ranicki") in London.
Life in Germany Frustrated by the curtailment of his liberty in the
People's Republic of Poland he emigrated in 1958 with his wife and son to the
Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), In 1973, he moved to
Frankfurt, where, from 1973 to 1988, he was head of the literature staff at the daily
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. From 1971 to 1975, he held visiting professorships at
Stockholm and
Uppsala. In 1974, he was awarded an honorary professorship at the
University of Tübingen, and in 1991 and 1992, he received the Heinrich-Heine visiting professorship at the
University of Düsseldorf. From 1988 to 2001, Reich-Ranicki hosted the literary talk show
Literarisches Quartett on German public television. In Summer 2000, fellow panelist
Sigrid Löffler left the panel, complaining that Reich-Ranicki had put forward
Haruki Murakami's erotic novel
South of the Border, West of the Sun for discussion, which Löffler disliked. Reich-Ranicki answered that she had a problem with erotic literature in general. Although differences over Murakami provided a catalyst for Löffler's widely publicised departure from the programme, it does appear that tensions between Löffler and Reich-Ranicki were more broadly based and longstanding, having indeed nourished the programme's dynamic over the years. In 2002, the show was followed by a similar but short-lived programme,
Reich-Ranicki Solo, which consisted of him talking about old and new books in front of a studio audience.
Jack Zipes wrote: "On his television show, Reich-Ranicki often played the clown, a mixture of
Milton Berle and
Jack Benny, but you always had to take him seriously because his knowledge of German culture was so comprehensive." Having written about German literature for most of his life, he also published books on American and Polish literature. After cutting down on his television appearances, Reich-Ranicki's wife and son encouraged him to write an autobiography "before it was too late". Published in 1999,
The Author of Himself: The Life of Marcel Reich-Ranicki was a bestseller in Germany, cementing his status. Mainly dealing with life and survival during the war, the book was adapted for television and broadcast starring
Matthias Schweighöfer as Reich-Ranicki in April 2009. In February 2007, the
Humboldt University in Berlin awarded him an honorary degree. This is the same university that Reich-Ranicki applied to in 1938, when his application was turned down because of his Jewish ancestry. He also declared he would have paid any monetary award back, had the prize been associated with a monetary reward. In 2012, Reich-Ranicki made a speech at the
Bundestag on
International Holocaust Remembrance Day. He continued to write a weekly column in the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung until shortly before his death. German Chancellor
Angela Merkel paid tribute: "We lose in him a peerless friend of literature, but also of freedom and democracy. I will miss this passionate and brilliant man." was a professor of mathematics at the
University of Edinburgh. According to
The Economist, "He appreciated Jewish culture, especially its way with words, but found religion pointless and, after Warsaw, God inconceivable." ==Relationships with authors==