Ernst and Eithne Kaiser of the Musil Research Unit, University of Reading

Robert Musil was born in Klagenfurt on 6 November 1880, the son of Alfred Musil and Hermine, ne Bergauer. His father, who was ennobled in 1917 as Hofrat Alfred von Musil, was Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the technical academy in Brnn but wanted a military career for his son. Musil was therefore educated at elite military academies, first at Eisenstadt and subsequently at Mhrisch-Weikirchen. However, in 1897 he rejected the idea of an army career and studied civil engineering at the academy at which his father taught. After gaining his diploma he went to Berlin to study philosophy, psychology and logic, writing a doctoral thesis on the epistemology of the Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach. Musil married Martha Marcovaldi in 1911. He worked as a librarian at the Technical University in Vienna from 1911 to 1914, served at the Italian Front during World War I, and subsequently worked in various Ministries in Vienna. After being made redundant he supported himself and his wife through his writing, though at a reduced income. After Hitler's annexation of Austria in 1938 Musil and his wife moved to Switzerland. He died in Geneva on April 15 1942.

Musil's first novel, Die Verwirrungen des Zglings Trle (The Confusions of Young Trless) was published in 1906 and was a great success. Subsequent plays and novels were less well received during Musil's lifetime. His best-known work, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The Man Without Qualities) appeared in three volumes, the first in 1930, the second in 1932 and the third posthumously in 1943.

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