Peter von Matt



Peter von Matt (born 20 May 1937) is a Swiss philologist and author.

Life
Born in Lucerne, Peter von Matt grew up in Stans in the canton of Nidwalden. He studied art history as well as German and English studies in Zurich and received a doctorate with Emil Staiger on Franz Grillparzer. In 1970, he received his post doctorate lecturing qualifications with a work on E. T. A. Hoffmann.

From 1976 to 2002, von Matt taught at the University of Zurich as a Professor of Newer German Literature. He was a guest professor at Stanford University in 1980 and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin in 1992/93. Von Matt is a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Sächsische Akademie der Künste (Saxon Academy of the Arts). He writes regular contributions for the Frankfurter Anthologie. He is married to literary critic Beatrice von Matt-Albrecht and lives with her in Dübendorf near Zurich.

Works

 * The Wild and the Ordered. About German Literature)
 * Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.
 * The Wild and the Ordered. About German Literature)
 * Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.
 * The Wild and the Ordered. About German Literature)
 * Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.
 * The Wild and the Ordered. About German Literature)
 * Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.
 * The Wild and the Ordered. About German Literature)
 * Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.
 * Winner of the 2012 Swiss Book Prize.

Awards

 * 1991: Johann Heinrich Merck Prize for Literary Critque and Essay
 * 1994: Johann-Peter-Hebel-Preis
 * 1995: Innerschweizer Kulturpreis (Innerswiss Culture Prize)
 * 1997: Order of Pour le Mérite for Science and Art
 * 1998: Prize of the Frankfurter Anthologie
 * 2000: Art Prize of the City of Zurich
 * 2001: Friedrich Märker Prize for Essayists
 * 2002: Prix Européen de l'Essai Charles Veillon (Lausanne)
 * 2004: Deutscher Sprachpreis (German Language Prize)
 * 2006: Heinrich Mann Prize
 * 2007: Brothers Grimm Prize of the University of Marburg
 * 2012: Swiss Book Prize for Das Kalb vor der Gotthardpost
 * 2014: Goethe Prize