Bernhard, Thomas

Thomas Bernhard was born near Maastricht in the Netherlands and grew up in Henndorf, Austria. He never knew his father, who was a carpenter, and his mother soon gave her own parents responsibility for his upbringing. Thomas Bernhard tried various artistic careers before he decided to dedicate his life to writing. As a young man he studied and envisaged a future as a composer and actor. He has described how he tried to stay away from writing, because his maternal grandfather was an author and literature had been an overwhelming presence during his upbringing. The reason he in the end chose to become an author was the same disease that eventually killed him. A serious lung condition had led to hospitalisation and long periods spent at sanatoriums in his youth. It became impossible to pursue a career in drama and music, and literature turned out to be a lifesaver when he was tied to his bed. After he had recovered he worked as a journalist and court clerk for a number of years before he published his first book, the poetry collection Auf der Erde und in der Hölle.