Franz Hessel

Franz Hessel (November 21, 1880 – January 6, 1941) was a German writer and translator. With Walter Benjamin, he produced a German translation of three volumes of Marcel Proust's 1913-1927 work À la recherche du temps perdu in the late 1920s.

Hessel's parents, Fanny and Heinrich Hessel, came to Berlin in 1880, and joined the Lutheran church (having been born Jewish).[1] Hessel became one of the first German exponents of the French idea of flânerie, and in 1929 published a collection of essays on the subject related to his native Berlin, Walking in Berlin (German: Spazieren in Berlin).[2][3] Reviewing the book in 1929, Benjamin described it as "an echo of the stories the city has told [Hessel] ever since he was a child—an epic book through and through, a process of memorizing while strolling around, a book for which memory has acted not as the source but as the Muse."[4] Concluding, Benjamin wrote: "if a Berliner is willing to explore his city for any treasures other than neon advertisements, he will grow to love this book."[5]

Hessel's son Stéphane Hessel became a diplomat.

Hessel inspired the character of Jules in Henri-Pierre Roche's novel Jules et Jim.[6][7]

English Translations

References
  1. "Best-selling French author and Holocaust survivor has some advice for Israel".
  2. Hanssen, Beatrice (2006-08-10). Walter Benjamin and the Arcades Project. ISBN 9780826463876.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-23. Retrieved 2010-01-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Benjamin, Walter (1999) [1929]. "The Return of the Flaneur". In Jennings, Michael W.; Eiland, Howard; Smith, Gary (eds.). Selected Writings Volume 2, Part 1: 1927–1930. Translated by Livingstone, Rodney. Harvard University Press. p. 262.
  5. Benjamin 1999, p. 266.
  6. Blume, Mary (25 April 2003). "The secret lives of Jules and Jim". The New York Times.
  7. http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/23/julesjim.html%5B%5D


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