Geza Silberer

Gustav A. "Geza" Silberer (1 December 1876 – 5? 8? April 1938) was an Austrian journalist and author of Jewish extraction[1] born in Werschetz who wrote in German under the pseudonym Sil-Vara.

Biography

Gustav Silberer (aka G. Sil-Vara) was a journalist for Neue Freie Presse and a colleague of Theodor Herzl,[2] who was impressed by his work and provided him with encouragement early on in his career.[3]

Literary career

In 1912, while living in London, he and Charles H. Fisher adapted The Playboy of the Western World as Der Held des Westerlands[4] and had it published by Georg Müller and performed at Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiele, Berlin, at the Neue Wiener Bühne in Vienna and at the Stadttheater in Münster.[5]

A contemporary review of Englische Staatsmänner states that it was clear he had spent time in London and had close relations with the political figures he describes. The Vossische Zeitung "Aunt Voss" observes that readers would agreeably surprised to find Asquith, Curzon, Viscount Grey and Churchill treated "not as enemies but as men".[6] His play Ein Tag: Lustspiel in Drei Akten, adapted by theatre director Philip Moeller as Caprice, had a successful run in 1929 at New York's Theatre Guild, then elsewhere.[7]

His play Mädchenjahre einer Königin about the young Queen Victoria was the basis of several movies of the same name in 1936 and 1954[8]

Several of his books are still in print: Ein Wiener Landsturmmann (ISBN 9781161145694) and Ein Tag: Lustspiel in Drei Akten (ISBN 9781168352613)

Published works

  • Londoner Spaziergänge 1914
  • Ein Wiener Landsturmmann: Kriegstagebuchaufzeichnungen Aus Galizien 1915
  • Englische Staatsmänner (1916) biographies of Asquith, Balfour, Chamberlain, Churchill, Curzon, Bonar Law, Kitchener, Lloyd-George, Rosebery, Parnell and others.
  • Die Gitana. Szenen aus dem spanischen Leben um 1830 1916 illustrated by Erhard Amadeus
  • Briefe aus der Gefangenschaft 1917
  • Es geht weiter: Eine Nacht und ein Epilog 1919
  • Warum kommt der Friede nicht zustande 1932

Plays

  • Der Held der westlichen Welt or Der Held des Westerlands adaptation (with Charles H. Fisher) of J. M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World 1912
  • Ein Tag: Lustspiel in drei Akten 1914
  • Mädchenjahre einer Königin. Komödie in acht Bildern 1933

Awards and commemoration

Silvaraweg, a street in Döbling, Vienna was named for him in 1966.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Anniversaries and other celebrations United States" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-13.
  2. ^ Gelber, Mark H. (July 24, 2014). "Melancholy Pride: Nation, Race, and Gender in the German Literature of Cultural Zionism". Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG – via Google Books.
  3. ^ At Herzl's Grave, The Burial of a Leader - and Other Memories, G. Gil-Vara, Theodor Herzl: A Memorial, ed. Meir W. Weisgal, New York, 1929
  4. ^ Fisher, Charles H.; Silberer, Geza; Synge, J. M. (1 January 1912). "Der Held des Westerlands: (The playboy of the western world) Komödie in drei Akten". G. Müller. Retrieved 30 July 2016 – via The Open Library.
  5. ^ Bourgeois, Maurice John Millington Synge and the Irish theatre p.18
  6. ^ "Germany Day by Day" Kalgoorlie Argus 7 November 1916 p.1,2
  7. ^ "New comedy at Independent" Sydney Morning Herald 8 January 1944 p.11
  8. ^ "The Story of Vickie". 10 October 1955. Retrieved 30 July 2016 – via IMDb.
  9. ^ "Döblinger Strassennamen Herkunft und Bedeutung S". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.