Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque was a German-born novelist who rose to fame with his novel All Quiet on the Western Front, which depicted the horrors of World War I from the perspective of a young soldier. He was born Erich Paul Remark on June 22, 1898, in Osnabrück, Germany, the only son among Peter Franz Remark and Anna Maria Remark's three children. His father was a bookbinder and the family was poor and moved frequently during Remarque's childhood. He began writing at age 16 or 17 and published his first novel, The Dream Room, in 1920. He also changed his name to Erich Maria Remarque, using his mother's middle name and the original French spelling of his surname. Remarque served in the German army during World War I and was wounded several times. After the war, he worked as a teacher, journalist, editor, and racing car driver. He achieved international fame with his second novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which was published in 1929 and sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The novel was praised for its realistic and humane portrayal of the war experience, but also criticized by some as unpatriotic and pacifist. The book was banned and burned by the Nazis when they came to power in 1933. Remarque left Germany for Switzerland in 1932 and later moved to the United States in 1939. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1947. He wrote several other novels, most of them dealing with the effects of war and exile on individuals and society. Some of his notable works include The Road Back (1931), Three Comrades (1937), Arch of Triumph (1945), The Night in Lisbon (1962), and A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1954). He also wrote essays, poems, screenplays, and short stories. Remarque was married three times: first to Ilse Jutta Zambona, a German actress whom he married in 1925, divorced in 1930, remarried in 1938, and divorced again in 1957; second to Paulette Goddard, an American actress whom he married in 1958; and third to Jeanne Moreau, a French actress whom he married shortly before his death. He had no children. Remarque died of heart failure on September 25, 1970, at his home in Locarno, Switzerland. He was buried in the Ronco cemetery in Ronco, Ticino, Switzerland. His sister Elfriede Scholz was executed by the Nazis in 1943 for undermining morale with her anti-war remarks. His literary legacy is widely recognized and admired for its humanistic and universal values.