Patrick Süskind (; born 26 March 1949) His mother, Annemarie Süskind, née Schmitt, was a sports teacher; his older brother (1944–2009) was a journalist and speechwriter.

Career

In 1981, he had his first major success with the play Der Kontrabaß (The Double Bass), which was conceived originally as a radio play. During the theatrical season of 1984–85, the play was performed more than 500 times. The only role is that of a tragi-comical orchestra musician. During the 1980s, working with the director Helmut Dietl, Süskind was also successful as a screenwriter for the television productions Monaco Franze (1983) and Kir Royal (1987), among others. In 1996 he won the Screenplay Prize of the German Department for Culture for his screenplay of ', directed by Dietl. He rejected other awards, such as the FAZ-Literaturpreis, the Toucan Prize, and the Gutenberg Prize.

His best-known work is the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (1985). Perfume was on the bestselling list of the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel for nine years, has been translated into 49 languages and has worldwide sales of more than 20 million copies. Also, it was adapted into a 2006 film directed by Tom Tykwer. Süskind has also published a novella, The Pigeon (1988), The Story of Mr Sommer (1991, illustrated by French cartoonist Sempé), Three Stories and a Reflection (1996), and an essay, On Love and Death (2006).

His spouse is German publisher Tanja Graf [<nowiki/>de], with whom he has a son.

Selected works

  • Der Kontrabaß (The Double Bass) (play, 1981)
  • Das Parfum (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) (novel, 1985)
  • Die Taube (The Pigeon) (novella, 1988)
  • Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer (The Story of Mr Sommer) (novella, 1991)
  • Drei Geschichten und eine Betrachtung (Three Stories and a Reflection) (stories, 1996) [Contents: Depth Wish, A Battle, Maître Mussard's Bequest, Amnesia in Litteris.]
  • Über Liebe und Tod (On Love and Death) (essay, 2006)

References

Further reading

  • Delseit, Wolfgang and Drost, Ralf. Patrick Süskind. Das Parfum. Erläuterungen und Dokumente. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2000. .
  • Patrick Süskind at German National Library
  • Patrick Süskind at The Literary Encyclopedia