Bernhard Böschenstein - Biography#

Since 1965 and until 1998, I was full professor of German and later also of Comparative Literature at the University of Geneva.

My books are concerning German, French and Old Greek poetry, from 1750 to now. The main author was for me Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843): I have written two books and a great number of essays about him and edited 18 volumes of his Yearbook. Other main authors of my publications are Goethe ("Die natürliche Tochter"), Jean Paul (especially the novel "Titan"), Kleist, and in the 20th century Stefan George, Hofmannsthal, Rilke, Trakl and Paul Celan.

As comparatist, I worked about the influence of French Symbolism on German poets and about Hölderlin as translator of Sophokles.

I have taught in chronological order at Berlin (Freie Unuiversität), Göttingen, Harvard, Geneva, Lausanne, Basel, Zurich, Cornell (Ithaca), ETH Zurich, Heidelberg, Princeton, Fribourg, Pisa. I have also published several translations of French poetry into German.

Since the first year, 1989, I was elected as member of the EA.