Frisch, Max Rudolf

Frisch, Max Rudolf (1911-1991), Swiss playwright and novelist. Born on May 15, 1911, in Zurich, Frisch studied at the University of Zurich and then worked as a journalist and an architect.

Among Frisch's more notable plays is Die chinesische Mauer (1946; The Chinese Wall, 1961), an experimental farce that mixes ancient with modern settings and characters and addresses self-destructiveness. Next appeared Als der Krieg zu Ende war (1949, When the War Was Over). Perhaps his best-known plays are Andorra (1961; trans. 1962), a tragic parable on the effects of anti-Semitism, and the farce Biedermann und die Brandstifter (1958; The Firebugs, 1962).

Stiller (1954; I'm Not Stiller, 1958), a novel about an intellectual struggling with his identity, is regarded by some as Frisch's finest work. Other novels include Homo Faber (1957; trans. 1959), Mein Name sei Gantenbein (1964; A Wilderness of Mirrors, 1965), Man in the Holocene (1979; trans. 1980), and Bluebeard (1982; trans. 1983). Frisch's diaries have been published as Tagebuch 1946-1949 (1965; trans. 1977) and Tagebuch 1966-1971 (1972; trans. 1974.