Wassermann, Jakob. — Writer, b. at Fürth on 10 March 1873 into a Jewish family, d. at Altaussee (Styria) on 1 January 1934.
He soon began a literary career, abandoning the commercial path for which he had been destined. His first full-length novel, *Die Juden von Zirndorf* (1897), contrasts the false prophet with the type of the new prophet awaited by the Jewish people; the following *Geschichte der jungen Renate Fuchs* (1900) presents the figure of the new Jewish woman and forms the second part of that novel. These are followed by *Moloch* (1903); *Der nie geküsste Mund*; *Alexander in Babylon* (1905) and a collection of short stories: *Die Schwestern* (1906). Then, after a brief interval, comes the most mature and extensive series of novels, elaborated against the backdrop of a then-fashionable scientific psychology, such as *Caspar Hauser* (1908); *Die Masken Ewin Reimers* (1910); *Das Gänsemännchen* (1915); *Christian Wahnschafte* (1919); *Der Aufruhr um den Junker Ernst* (1926); *Der Fall Mauritius* (1928); *Elzed Andergast* (1931). Posthumously appeared *Joseph Kerkhoven* *dritte Existenz* and *Tagebuch aus dem Winkel*.
The fundamental characteristic of W.’s art lies in a technique of extreme precision, almost mechanical, by which he unfolds plots crowded with episodes and characters who, more than building up, shatter the grand narrative of the human comedy. Far removed from any moralism or religious concerns, W. nonetheless pursues an ideal of humanity, a myth, a messianic dream that elevates his art to a nobly spiritual plane.