Austrian philosophical writer, most noted for his unfinished three-volume work, “The Man Without Qualities,” written from 1923-1940 and generally considered to be one of the most important and influential modernist novels. In the late 20th century critics considered Musil to be one of the preeminent European writers of the century alongside James Joyce and Franz Kafka. An intellectual with a scientific and imaginative mind, Musil was an expert in theoretical physics, experimental psychology and mechanical engineering. He originally studied psychology and philosophy but turned down a teaching post for a career in literature. With his writings, he examined the sterile oppositions and destructive tendencies of his era in Europe. He held contempt for the Nazi party and his revulsion for Communism led to an isolation from a reading audience. In 1938, his books were banned from Germany and Austria, and he sought protection in Zurich, Switzerland. An acute observer of contemporary cultural and social phenomena, he wrote with precision and beauty and was known as a neo-positivist and mystic.
Musil was the son of Alfred Musil and his mother Hermine. His father was from an old noble Austrian family and taught at the Technical University of Brunn. Musil grew up as a lonely child spending his hours daydreaming in the family garden or looking out the window when he was in the house. His father felt his son must get into society by becoming an officer in the Imperial Army. At 12, the boy was sent to military school in Eisenstadt, Austria. In 1894, he went to school at a strict, harsh military academy in present-day Hranice in the Czech Republic. It is here where he learned about mechanical engineering and artillery fire. At 17, he went to Vienna to study at the Technical Military Academy. He became unhappy with his officer training courses and left the Academy to study at his father’s University of Brunn in 1898.
Musil began his first diary entries and began to explore his ability to write from 1898-1901. In 1902, Musil lived in Stuttgart and worked on his first novel “Young Torless.” The book was published in 1906. At 23, he studied philosophy and majors in Logics and experimental psychology at the University of Stuttgart. In 1908, he became the editor for the magazine “Pan” in Berlin. As an officer at the Italian front during World War II, the writer was decorated several times for bravery. On 22 October 1917, his father Alfred Musil, was hereditarily ennobled thus given Robert the title Robert Edler von Musil.
Musil worked as a theater-critic, essayist and writer in Vienna from 1921 to 1931. He moved to Berlin in 1931 and Kurt Glaser endowed the Musil-Gesellschaft Foundation to provide Musil with the funds to finish his long-term project “The Man Without Qualities.” In 1936, his collection of thoughts, observations and stories were published, and he found his works attacked by the Nazi Party. In August 1938, Musil and his wife escaped Vienna for Zurich. In Geneva, he continued to work on his novel under grim financial hardships. His exile in Switzerland brought him much bitterness about his life. An American couple, Henry Hall and Barbara Church gave Musil some financial support to continue his book. His greatest work, “The Man Without Qualities” was published posthumously in its unfinished state in 1943.
Musil married Martha Marcovaldi on 15 April 1911 in Vienna, Austria. In 1936, he suffered a stroke and died in exile in Geneva, Switzerland on 15 April 1942 at age 61.
Link to Wikipedia biography