Amann, Paul, 1884-1958

Paul Amann, born in Prague in 1884, studied German and Romance languages, as well as philosophy, at Karl-Ferdinand-University in Prague, and then at the University of Vienna. He graduated in 1907 as a doctor of philosophy. After his studies he taught in Reichenberg (Liberec, Czech Republic) and Prossnitz (Prostejov, Czech Republic). In 1910 he accepted a position as a teacher at a Gymnasium in Vienna. In 1924 he married Dora Iranyi, a concert singer. From 1911 to 1938, Amann taught at the Gymnasium in Vienna; during World War I, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. Paul Amann was the author of fiction and non-fiction works and a translator. He translated the works of Romain Rolland, Henry de Montherlant, and other English or French authors into German. He also wrote, in French, a well-received bibliography of the work of Goethe. For that book he was designated as an Officier d`Academie by the government of France in 1937.

After the occupation of Austria by the Nazis, Amann immigrated to Paris (1939) and then, following the Nazi seizure of France, to Montpellier in September of 1941. When the war ended in 1945, he immigrated to the United States. During the following years, he taught at various colleges in New York State. He died in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1958.

From the guide to the Paul Amann Collection, 1911-1972, (Leo Baeck Institute)