Hugo Loetscher


Hugo Loetscher was a Swiss writer and essayist.

Life

Loetscher was born and raised in Zürich. He studied philosophy, sociology, and literature at the University of Zürich and the Sorbonne. At Zürich in 1956 he obtained a doctorate with a work called Die politische Philosophie in Frankreich nach 1945'.
Afterwards, he was literature reviewer for the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung and the magazine Weltwoche. From 1958 to 1962 he was a member of the editorial department of the monthly cultural magazine Du and founded the literary supplement Das Wort. From 1964 until 1969 he was feuilleton editor and member of the editorial board of the Weltwoche. He next became a freelance writer.
In the 1960s, Loetscher worked as a reporter in Latin America with his primary focuses being Cuba and Brazil. Later, he also traveled through Southeast Asia. He was writer in residence in 1979/80 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In 1981/82 he was the first holder of the Swiss Chair'' at the City University of New York. He was guest lecturer at several universities, e.g. in 1988 at the University of Munich in 1999 at the Universidade do Porto and 2008 at the Shanghai International Studies University and the University of California at Berkeley. Loetscher died aged 79 in Zurich.

Performances

Hugo Loetscher's works were often based on his traveling experiences; he has been called the most cosmopolitan Swiss writer. His experiences are reflected in reports such as Zehn Jahre Fidel Castro and narrative works such as Wunderwelt. Eine brasilianische Begegnung and
Herbst in der Grossen Orange. Loetscher's most famous works are Der Immune and Die Papiere des Immunen, in which he experimented with several literary genres. This variety of genres also reflects itself in other works: fables in Die Fliege und die Suppe, short stories in Der Buckel, columns in Der Waschküchenschlüssel und andere Helvetica, poetry in Es war einmal die Welt. In 2003, he published Lesen statt klettern, a collection of essays on Swiss literature, in which he questioned the traditional image of Switzerland as an Alpine nation. His literary estate is archived in the Swiss Literary Archives in Bern.
Loetscher also had strong interest in visual arts, particularly painting and photography. He was a close friend of the Swiss painter Varlin. Varlin painted Loetscher and in 1969, Loetscher edited the first book about Varlin's life and work. As President of the Foundation of Swiss Photography, Loetscher was co-editor of the first history of Swiss photography Photographie in Der Schweiz Von 1840 Bis Heute.
Loetscher was a member of the Swiss Writers´ Association, whose president he was from 1986 to 1989. He is also corresponding member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt.

The Dürrenmatt affair

Hugo Loetscher was a good friend of the Swiss playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt. After Friedrich Dürrenmatt's death, legal action was taken against Loetscher by Dürrenmatt's widow Charlotte Kerr, which was to be later dismissed. The lawsuit's reason: Loetscher wrote a report about Dürrenmatt's abdication in Lesen statt klettern, which Kerr claimed violated her "personal rights". She also criticized details like the folded hands of the laid out corpse or a Stephen King book on Dürrenmatt's bedside table. The description of the funeral had hurt her dignity. She stated that Loetscher was mistaken; Dürrenmatt had been atheist, he wouldn’t have folded his hands. Loetscher explained that there had been a drawing that showed Dürrenmatt with hands folded. Kerr supposedly had asked for it and burnt it. He emphasized that he had been a friend of Dürrenmatt for many years. The judges dismissed the case, exonerating Loetscher.

Awards and honors