Stefan Zweig

The distinguished writer and intellectual Stefan Zweig is the second motif of the series "Literature from Austria."

Stefan Zweig, born in 1881 in Vienna as the son of a Jewish industrialist, began writing poetry during his school years. He worked as a journalist for the Neue Freie Presse and as a translator, and during the First World War, he was employed in the War Archive. In 1934, he emigrated to England, became a British citizen in 1940, and eventually settled in Brazil, where in 1942, plagued by depression, he took his own life. Zweig was a master at depicting the human psyche and crafting compelling narratives, with the influence of Sigmund Freud on his work being unmistakable. "Decisive Moments in History" (1927) and "The Royal Game" (1942) are just a few of his most renowned works. The quote on the stamp comes from the novella "Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman," which appeared in 1927 as part of the collection "Confusion of Feelings."